Dr. Annette N. Brown leads the development of FHI 360’s global strategy and guides implementation of that strategy to address global challenges. The Strategy, Innovation and Evidence office, which she heads, frames and supports the organization’s innovation architecture and conducts measurement, data, evaluation and evidence functions for advancing FHI 360’s growth as a learning organization and supporting data-driven performance management and evidence-based programs, research and advocacy.
Prior to joining FHI 360, Brown led the Washington, D.C., office of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and served on its executive team. In this role, she oversaw a variety of research and grant-making programs, raised millions in funds and led engagement with 3ie’s member ministries, foundations and organizations. Earlier in her career, she worked at both for-profit and not-for-profit development implementers in senior management positions that involved research, strategy, program management, business development, technical assistance, and measurement and evaluation. Her research and program experience encompasses several development sectors, including economic growth, democracy and governance, and global health. She has advised government ministries and agencies in all regions of the world and has worked in more than 30 countries.
Brown was an assistant professor of economics at Western Michigan University, taught at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and held research positions at the World Bank and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics. She is the author or co-author of numerous research articles published in social science and public health journals, and she edited the book When Is Transition Over?, which examines how countries move from a planned economy to a market economy.
Brown has a bachelor’s degree in economics and Russian from Grinnell College. At the University of Michigan she earned two master’s degrees, in economics and in Russian and East European studies, and, as a National Science Foundation fellow, a doctorate in economics.
