Aspen Strategy Group

Smita Singh

Founding Director of the Global Development Program, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Program:
Aspen Strategy Group

Biography

Smita Singh was the founding director of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's newest philanthropic foci, the Global Development Program. The Global Development Program seeks to improve the income and well-being of people living on less than $2 per day with a focus on changes that will help reduce extreme poverty in targeted countries. Prior to being named the program director, as a special advisor for global affairs, Ms. Singh led the foundation’s “Americans in the World” initiative, designed to inform American citizens and policymakers about international affairs and America’s global responsibilities. Ms. Singh was a scholar at the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies. Her research interests focus on the comparative political economy of developing countries. She has also worked for the Commission on National and Community Service (now called the Corporation for National Service) where she was responsible for developing the Commission's higher education initiatives and funding strategies for dispersing grants to community service and service-learning projects at over 200 colleges and universities. Before joining the commission, Ms. Singh worked at ABC News Nightline and prior to that, with community-based women's organizations in India.  She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group.