BRAC USA today announced the appointment of Donella Rapier as its new President & CEO. Donella will succeed BRAC USA’s founding President, Susan Davis, who completed ten years with the organisation in December 2015.
BRAC is a development success story, spreading anti-poverty solutions born in Bangladesh to 11 other developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Donella will bring over 30 years of extensive finance, fundraising and non-profit management experience to its U.S. operations.
For the past four and a half years, Donella served as the Chief Development and Administrative Officer at Accion, a pioneer and global leader in microfinance and financial inclusion whose work spans nearly two dozen countries. Prior to that, she was the Chief Financial Officer at Partners In Health, a global healthcare organization working in remote places where healthcare alternatives are limited or otherwise nonexistent, such as Haiti, Rwanda and Malawi. Earlier in her career, Donella spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles at Harvard University, including Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development and Chief Financial Officer for Harvard Business School. Donella received her MBA from Harvard Business School and began her career at Price Waterhouse.
“BRAC USA is enormously fortunate to have someone with Donella’s range of skills and depth of experience as the new leader for our organization,” said Lincoln Chen, Chair of the Board for BRAC USA. “She is a skilled builder of organizations and is deeply committed to empowering people and communities in situations of poverty.” Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder & Chairperson of BRAC Bangladesh, applauded the appointment: “Donella is a great addition to the BRAC family, bringing talent, expertise, and commitment to our work of ending poverty.”
“I am truly honored to be joining the remarkable BRAC family of organizations,” said Donella Rapier who will join BRAC USA full time in July 2016, “BRAC has made an enormous difference in the world and, by many measures, is one of the most successful organizations driving social change. I am eager to dive in and build on the excellent foundation laid by a decade of pioneering work to further BRAC’s reach and potential for even greater impact.”