Getachew Engida has spent more than two decades leading and managing international organizations to advance the causes of poverty eradication, peace building and sustainable development. He has worked extensively on rural and agricultural development, water and climate challenges, education as well as technology and innovation. Throughout his career, he has maintained a particular focus on improving conditions for the poorest and most marginalized. He is a specialist in change management, good governance and transformative leadership.
Engida currently serves as a distinguished professor and co-president of the China-Africa Leadership Development Institute at the Tsinghua University in Beijing. He was previously the deputy director general of UNESCO (2010–2018). Engida is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.
Numerous international institutions have benefited from Engida’s extensive professional and academic experience. Engida has served on the boards of Africa Rice and the International Water Management Institute. He was a senior executive at IFAD and a director at the International Livestock Research Institute. Prior to his engagement in development work, Engida held managerial and leadership positions in the private sector, including at Ernst & Young, The BOC Group and Thompson-Reuters, the latter for ten years in the United Kingdom and Kenya (1986–1995).
Engida holds a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester (1981) and an MBA in Strategic Management from City University Business School in London (1993).
