Deirdre White, a globally recognized leader in building tri-sector partnerships to address the world’s most pressing challenges, is president and CEO of Pyxera Global. Deirdre’s expertise spans private, public, and social sector experiences. Her social sector tenure at Pyxera Global is complemented by early career roles at the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and American Councils. She has also served on the Boards of Directors of the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA), the US Center for Citizen Diplomacy, and IMPACT2030. She currently serves on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Advisory Council and on the Leadership Council for Better World Leadership.
Deirdre began her career in the private sector, working with Welt International, a niche consulting firm engaged in nonconventional means of financing international trade ventures. She later expanded her private sector experience as a senior manager in Arthur D. Little’s Moscow office, leading post-privatization restructuring efforts for large manufacturing enterprises in Russia and Ukraine. She also served as an organizational development advisor to several of the Eurasian oil and gas sector’s largest firms. After nearly a decade based in Russia, Deirdre transferred to the Public Sector Practice at Arthur D. Little, leading projects focused on strategy and organization for the US Agency for International Development, the US Trade and Development Agency, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, along with numerous government agencies across Eurasia.
Widely cited for her thought leadership, Deirdre has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, and The New Global Citizen; she has contributed to MarketWatch, the Council on Foreign Relations Development Channel, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. Deirdre is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and is an alumna of the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Program. She has been a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, George Washington University, and American University.
Deirdre drives the discussion of new strategies for global engagement and has been a featured speaker at the Shared Value Leadership Summit, Wharton Africa Business Forum, Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network, and US Department of Commerce’s Discover Global Markets. She has served for multiple years as regional judge for the HULT Prize, a competition dedicated to launching the world’s next wave of social entrepreneurs. Previously, Deirdre was co-facilitator of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Employee Engagement Action Network. She also participated in Rockefeller Foundation’s renowned Bellagio Initiative and the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread’s Leadership Forum for Global Citizen Diplomacy.
