Andrea Woodhouse

Andrea Woodhouse is a senior social development specialist in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region. Her work focuses on social inclusion, social cohesion, and forced displacement.
 
She has worked on countries in transition for over 15 years, specializing in conflict, fragility, and violence, crisis recovery, social analysis, and community-driven development. She began her career in Indonesia during its transition, where she worked on corruption and community development, founded the World Bank’s Justice for the Poor program, and advised the Indonesian government on post-tsunami recovery in Aceh.  She has worked on community-driven development and conflict programs in Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and South Sudan, represented the World Bank through ASEAN in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and has analyzed poverty, forced displacement, and marginalization across the East Asia Pacific region and in Somalia. For several years, she led the World Bank’s analytical program in social development in Myanmar after the World Bank re-engaged in the country when it began to reform. She has held various roles within the World Bank, the United Nations, and in the social entrepreneurship space, including as an advisor to the UN Secretary General’s office on reform of the global peacebuilding architecture, and as co-founder of the online social movement Avaaz.
 
She holds a B.A. and M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Balliol College, Oxford University, and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She was born in Myanmar, and grew up in various countries, including Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Indonesia, and the United States. She likes writing, cooking, and spending time with her three young children.