Pact welcomes new industry experts to senior leadership

Pact welcomes two new appointments to the senior management team who will help lead the organization’s global work to build evidence-based, data-driven solutions for human development. 

Michèle Laird joins the organization as Senior Vice President for Programs. Laird is a senior international development executive with more than 25 years of experience in all facets of global development. She will lead Pact’s largest team of diverse technical and geographic experts across the global organization, including in global health, governance, capacity development, innovation, energy, environment, mining and livelihoods technical areas. Previously, Laird served as Regional Vice President for Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean at Abt Associates. Her technical expertise ranges from promoting inclusive, transparent enabling environments for small and medium enterprises to mobilizing private and public finance to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

Roger-Mark De Souza joins Pact as Vice President for Sustainable Markets. De Souza brings more than 20 years of experience building social, economic, health and environmental justice and resilience programs, teams and movements across the world to encourage local ownership and empowerment. Prior to joining Pact, De Souza served as Chief Movement Building Officer at Amnesty International. In his role as Vice President, he will lead Pact’s energy, environment, mining and livelihoods technical teams.

“We are thrilled to welcome Michèle and Roger-Mark to Pact,” said Caroline Anstey, President & CEO of Pact. “Their considerable expertise positions us to make further progress in achieving our mission to build solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve.”

Laird and De Souza will both lead teams responsible for implementing key elements of Pact’s new three-year strategy. Learn more about Pact’s strategy here.