IDinsight announces new CEO Dr. Ruth Levine

April 8, 2020 – IDinsight, a data analytics, research, and advisory organization announced today the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ruth Levine. Dr. Levine will succeed Dr. Neil Buddy Shah, Founding Partner and outgoing CEO of IDinsight, who will be transitioning to become the Managing Director of GiveWell.

Dr. Levine is a development economist and expert in global health, education, and evaluation. She comes to IDinsight with an extensive background in global development, including previous positions as the program director of Global Development and Population Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Levine also spent nearly a decade at the Center for Global Development, as a senior fellow and vice president for programs and operations; while at CGD, she also led the Center’s Global Health Policy Program. She previously designed and evaluated health and education projects at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. She comes to IDinsight after a year-long fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

“Ruth’s impressive accomplishments speak for themselves,” said Dr. Shah, outgoing CEO. “She has a rare ability to both articulate big ideas and translate them into institutions and movements that improve lives at scale. For example, in the evidence-informed policymaking space, she conceptualized and helped launch USAID’s evaluation approach as well as the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). In the global health space, she galvanized advanced market commitments that have helped immunize 700 million children against pneumonia. We look forward to her taking the ideas we have developed at IDinsight and building broader coalitions to create a more effective, evidence-driven sector. There is no better person we could think of to transition IDinsight into this next phase.”

“Ruth has been an engine for impact in the evidence-driven policy space,” said Katie Laidlaw, IDinsight Board Chair. “Not only is Ruth an esteemed and influential voice in our sector, but she is also a thoughtful, humble, and values-driven leader. In this critical time for policymakers and global development leaders, we know Ruth will help amplify IDinsight’s impact to new heights.”

“There has never been a greater need for IDinsight’s work, bringing the most relevant and timely evidence to bear on – quite literally – life and death decisions,” said Dr. Levine, incoming CEO. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a stellar team to achieve even greater impact in the future.”

Dr. Levine will begin her transition to IDinsight on April 15, 2020.