Elizabeth L. Littlefield is an American businesswoman and executive. She is the Senior Partner and co-founder of West Africa Blue, and Senior Advisor at Pollination, a climate change investment and advisory firm. She chairs the Board of M-KOPA solar and serves on the board of the World Wildlife Fund (US).
Formerly, Littlefield was a Senior Counselor and Head of Sustainability at
Albright Stonebridge Group
Albright Stonebridge Group, part of DGA Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, founded in 2001 by former ...
. She served as the chairman, President, and CEO of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...
(OPIC), now a part of the
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC), during the Obama administration. Prior, she served as the CEO of the
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and as a Director at the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
. She began her career at
JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...
where she served in positions including as managing director for Emerging Markets.
Early life
A native of Boston, Littlefield attended the
Fondation Nationale de Sciences Politiques and
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in Paris, France in 1981, obtaining a Certificat d'Etudes de Sciences Politiques. In 1982, she graduated from
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
cum laude with a B.A. in International Relations. In 1984, she completed JPMorgan's 10 month bank management training program.
Career
In 1982, Littlefield joined the global investment banking and advisory services firm
JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...
.
In her first three years, based in New York City, she managed relationships of JPMorgan with financial institution in Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. During this time, she began collaborating with
Women's World Banking
Women's World Banking is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to women's economic empowerment through financial inclusion.
__TOC__
Mission and vision
As an NGO, Women's World Banking (WWB) partners with financial institutions and policymak ...
.
From 1986 to 1988, Littlefield was JPMorgan's Director of Investment Banking based in Paris. She was responsible for design, creation, marketing, and technical aspects of 24 multi-currency investment funds incorporated in France and Luxembourg.
While working at J.P. Morgan, she obtained a leave of absence from 1988 to 1990 to move to West Africa to help local communities establish several start-up microfinance institutions in Central and West Africa. She helped the founding board create th
Gambia Women's Finance Associationas well as start-up microfinance institutions in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
,
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
, and
Burundi
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...
.
In April 1990, Littlefield moved to London to establish the Emerging Market Sales and Trading business for JPMorgan, in which capacity she was Head Debt Trader for Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. During this time, Littlefield also crafted also discounted debt structures, such as debt-for-nature swaps.
In January 1993, Littlefield became managing director of Emerging Markets Capital Markets at JPMorgan, responsible for bond issues and structured debt financing across Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, nations of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa.
In 1999, she was recruited to serve in a joint capacity as a Director of the World Bank's Financial and Private Sector Division, and chief executive officer of The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor from 1999 to 2010 a microfinance think tank.
From 2007 to 2008, Littlefield was an adjunct professor leading a graduate course on Financial Sector Reform and Global Development at SAIS, the
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China.
The school is devoted to the study of int ...
of the
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
.
She is chair of the board of
M-KOPA
M-Kopa (M for mobile, ''kopa'' is Swahili for borrow, stylized as M-KOPA) , (Kenya), Senior Adviser at Pollination (UK, USA, Australia), and Solon Capital Partners, (Sierra Leone), Board of Adviser at General Atlantic's Beyond Net Zero fund (UK), Development Alternatives Inc. (USA), and Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy (USA), board member and Treasurer World Wildlife Fund (US).
Government career
From 2010 to 2017, Littlefield served as the chairman, President and CEO of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...
(OPIC), the U.S. Government's development finance agency during the Obama administration. In this role, an Under Secretary-level position, she managed OPIC's $29 billion portfolio of financing and insurance to support private investment in developing countries. Under Littlefield's leadership, OPIC investments in renewable energy grew ten-fold its investment portfolio doubled and it ranked at the top of the federal government's employee viewpoint rankings.
Littlefield also instituted complete transformations and reforms of the agency's policies, systems and processes and introduced new financial innovations and partnerships to augment the agency's development impact. In redirecting the agency's sector focus toward renewable resources, especially natural resources, solar and wind energy, as well as impact investing.
During her tenure at OPIC, Littlefield increased investments in Sub-Saharan Africa by 250 percent from 2009 to 2015. The agency was the principal source of financing under President Obama's signature
Power Africa initiative.
Littlefield was appointed by President Obama to serve as a member of the White House Global Development Council and the
President’s Export Council
The President's Export Council (PEC) is an American government organization that serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The Council advises the president of the United States on policies and programs that affect ...
. She was presented in 2012 with the U.S. State Department's Distinguished Service Award, the highest award in the Foreign Service, by then U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
.
In November 2020, Littlefield co-led of the
Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to
international development
International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlefield, Elizabeth
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Businesspeople from Boston
American women chief executives
Overseas Private Investment Corporation officials
Obama administration personnel
JPMorgan Chase people
Brown University alumni
Sciences Po alumni
Columbia University alumni
21st-century American women civil servants