United Nations agency welcomes former EBRD director to lead newly-created External Relations and Governance Department

Charlotte Salford, a Swedish national and founder and Managing Director of GROWTHCAP, a private firm advising socially responsible small and medium enterprises, has joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as Associate Vice-President of External Relations and Governance.

In her role at IFAD, Salford will oversee a newly created department leading four critical parts of Fund, including communications, governance, partnership and resource mobilization, and global engagement.

Charlotte Salford

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty indeveloping countries. Seventy-five per cent of the world’s poorest people – 1.4 billion women, children and men – live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. IFAD invests in rural areas where global challenges such as hunger, poverty, youth unemployment are rooted.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to IFAD’s mandate to invest in among other things, small-scale agriculture, job creation and access to financial services for rural people, which can have far-reaching impact and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Salford brings to IFAD more than 20 years of experience in economic and social development in emerging markets. Previously, she worked for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission (EC). In addition, for more than a decade Salford was at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in senior positions, ranging from Adviser to the Executive Director for the EC, to Director in the Banking Department. She mobilized funds from donors, directed 12,000 individual small and medium-sized enterprise projects in 26 countries, and also initiated the Women in Business Programme.

Salford has a Master of Science in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a non-executive board member of Swedfund, Give a Future, Hugo StenbeckStiftelse, and Reach for Change.

Charlotte Salford, a Swedish national and founder and Managing Director of GROWTHCAP, a private firm advising socially responsible small and medium enterprises, has joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as Associate Vice-President of External Relations and Governance.

In her role at IFAD, Salford will oversee a newly created department leading four critical parts of Fund, including communications, governance, partnership and resource mobilization, and global engagement.

Charlotte Salford

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty indeveloping countries. Seventy-five per cent of the world’s poorest people – 1.4 billion women, children and men – live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. IFAD invests in rural areas where global challenges such as hunger, poverty, youth unemployment are rooted.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to IFAD’s mandate to invest in among other things, small-scale agriculture, job creation and access to financial services for rural people, which can have far-reaching impact and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Salford brings to IFAD more than 20 years of experience in economic and social development in emerging markets. Previously, she worked for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission (EC). In addition, for more than a decade Salford was at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in senior positions, ranging from Adviser to the Executive Director for the EC, to Director in the Banking Department. She mobilized funds from donors, directed 12,000 individual small and medium-sized enterprise projects in 26 countries, and also initiated the Women in Business Programme.

Salford has a Master of Science in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a non-executive board member of Swedfund, Give a Future, Hugo StenbeckStiftelse, and Reach for Change.