Introduction to the Issue from the United States Agency for International Development

Gillian Caldwell serves as the United States Agency for International Development’s Chief Climate Office and is responsible for directing and overseeing climate and environment work across the agency. She also serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation’s Center for Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure and the Office of Environmental and Social Risk Management. Caldwell has worked to protect human rights and the environment throughout her career. For example, prior to joining USAID, she served as the Chief Executive Officer of Global Witness, which has a focus on tackling climate change and deploys investigations into corruption and natural resource extraction to drive systems change worldwide. Caldwell has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.