Alice Albright

About Alice Albright

I am a global executive with more than two decades of leadership across international development, global health, education, and innovative finance. My career has focused on building institutions, pioneering new approaches to development finance, and advancing equitable growth and opportunity around the world.As Founder and Principal of Acadia Advisory, I advise philanthropic and development organizations as they navigate a shifting global landscape. My work centers on supporting institutions as they consider how development models and financing approaches may need to evolve in the years ahead. Recent advisory engagements include support to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, WINGS, and the African Development Bank.Previously, I served as Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). At MCC, I led a strategic refresh and helped secure the passage of bipartisan legislation expanding the agency’s country eligibility, adding 33 countries to its potential footprint. At GPE, I guided the organization’s evolution into a major multilateral funder and expanded its financing toolkit, including the launch of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), the GPE Multiplier, and a $500 million COVID-19 emergency window to sustain learning during school closures.Earlier in my career, I helped establish the field of innovative development finance beginning at GAVI, where I co-designed and launched the International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) and the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) — mechanisms that transformed global vaccine access and mobilized more than $10 billion. I continued advancing new financing approaches at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where I helped launch its first direct lending program for small businesses.My work has taken me to more than 60 countries, engaging leaders at all levels — from Heads of State to local partners — to align diplomacy, finance, and policy in support of inclusive and sustainable growth. I currently serve on the Board of the National Democratic Institute, am a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and sit on the Food Security Leadership Council. I remain actively engaged in advising and speaking globally on the future of development finance, institutional transformation, and global cooperation.

Experience

1. Carnegie Distinguished Fellow

   Columbia Sipa

   Dec 2025 — Present · New York, NY, US

Education

• Columbia | SIPA

  MIA, International Finance and Banking

  1983 — 1985

• Williams College

  BA, History

  1979 — 1983