IDinsight board appoints interim co-CEOs

30th March 2023 – IDinsight’s Board of Directors is pleased to share that it has selected Esther Wang and Marc Shotland to serve as interim co-CEOs in light of Ruth Levine’s departure from IDinsight at the end of April. 

Esther and Marc will step into the roles in April and co-lead the organization until the next full-time CEO is appointed and on board. Ruth Levine will remain in an advisory role until April 28. 

“Having worked with Esther and Marc for years, I am confident that they will be exceptional interim co-CEOs. They have an excellent combination of strengths and perspectives across operations, project and technical work, as well as a deep commitment to IDinsight culture and values, which will serve the organization well during this transition,” 

Dr. Neil Buddy Shah, IDinsight’s Board Chair, Co-Founder and former CEO.

Esther Wang is a co-founder of IDinsight. From 2011-2021, she held the roles of Founding Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and Head of External Partnerships. Esther opened IDinsight’s first office in Zambia and lived in Lusaka for eight years, where she oversaw the growth of the organization to 150 staff globally. Previously, Esther was a strategy consultant with Bain & Company, a co-founder of a social enterprise in the Tibetan Plateau, and co-led several not-for-profit organizations. Most recently, Esther was a Partner with the Bridgespan Group, serving as strategic advisor to non-profits and philanthropies.

Since joining IDinsight in 2017, Marc Shotland has been the Director of the Research, Evaluation, and Data (RED), ensuring that IDinsight upholds the highest-quality research standards, develops top-notch evaluation infrastructure, and builds evaluation capacity–both internally and externally. He previously served as the Research Director for MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).

“The co-leadership of Esther and Marc will serve IDinsight extraordinarily well. Between them, they’ll be able to attend to all IDinsight’s needs and will make sure that resources are allocated to achieve the greatest impact from our work. I would like to extend deep thanks to our excellent Board and to Esther and Marc for agreeing to serve in this vital way.”

Ruth Levine, outgoing IDinsight CEO

About IDinsight

IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research organization that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. We tailor a wide range of data and evidence tools, including randomized evaluations and machine learning, to help decision-makers design effective programs and rigorously test what works to support communities. We work with governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, and innovative non-profit organizations in Asia and Africa. We work across a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, and financial inclusion. We have offices in Dakar, Lusaka, Manila, Nairobi, New Delhi, and remote. For more information, please visit idinsight.org