CSIS Names Enoh T. Ebong President of Global Development Department

WASHINGTON, DC – June 2, 2025 – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) announced today that Enoh T. Ebong has been named president of the Global Development Department. Formerly the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Ebong will lead a multidisciplinary team focused on advancing U.S. national security and global prosperity through policies that promote human well-being and economic opportunity.

Under Ebong’s direction, the Global Development Department will shape and inform policies addressing the world’s most pressing development challenges—including how to partner with the private sector to build the economies of the Global South and how these interventions can improve outcomes in global health, food and water security, climate adaptability, and human rights. As a member of CSIS’s executive team, Ebong will collaborate with leaders from across the Center’s departments to drive cross-disciplinary engagement on the development dimensions of defense, economic security, and geopolitical strategy.

“Enoh Ebong brings practical, real-world leadership experience bringing U.S. innovation and the private sector together with leaders in the Global South to improve prosperity and security,” said John Hamre, CSIS president and CEO. “USTDA is a successful model for how we ought to be thinking about development policy in this new era of constrained resources, increased competition with China, and a new generation of capable leaders in the Global South.”

With nearly two decades of senior government service across multiple administrations, Ebong served as USTDA’s presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed director from 2022 to 2025. In that role, she led the agency’s global infrastructure development efforts in energy, transportation, digital, and health care, and represented the United States in high-level engagements with foreign governments, multilateral institutions, and the private sector. Ebong expanded the agency’s global reach, overseeing its leadership role in major initiatives, including the Pacific Islands Infrastructure Initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Project Preparation Facility, the Digital Transformation with Africa Initiative, and the Lobito Rail Corridor project. Earlier in her tenure at USTDA, Ebong served as general counsel, chief operating officer, and acting director.

Ebong’s prior experience includes work in the nonprofit sector, serving as the head of strategic partnerships at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream. She began her career as a corporate lawyer at the Boston office of Mintz Levin. She holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, a Master of Arts from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Arts, with honors, from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.

“Global development is undergoing profound change, presenting both significant challenges and opportunities to innovate, adapt, and shape impactful new policy solutions,” said Ebong. “CSIS is uniquely positioned to build on its deep expertise in key development drivers and bring together a diverse network of stakeholders and partners to address urgent questions and advance development priorities. Together, we will develop forward-looking policies that strengthen global development efforts and enhance our national and economic security. I am honored to lead CSIS’s dedicated and visionary global development team at such a pivotal moment.”

Scholars within CSIS’s Global Development Department are recognized as leading global experts on issues ranging from global health and human rights to water and food security and climate change. Visit here to learn more about the CSIS Global Development Department and click here to read Enoh Ebong’s full bio.

For media inquiries, please contact Andrew Schwartz (aschwartz@csis.org) and Sofia Chavez (schavez@csis.org).

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.