Lindsay Coates

As Managing Director of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI), Lindsay leads BRAC’s efforts to eradicate extreme poverty through a focus on the world’s poorest people. Lindsay and her team work to realize SDG 1 and for the uptake of the Graduation approach by policymakers, development finance agencies, national governments, non-governmental organizations, and microfinance institutions. The Graduation approach, developed by BRAC, has been proven to break the poverty trap by addressing the multi-dimensional challenges that ultra-poor households face. After typically two years in the program, ultra-poor families transform their lives: they have a steady income, savings and skills, nourished children that attend school, a support network of peers and neighbors, and confidence in their ability to build a better life for their families. Thus far, UPGI has worked in thirteen countries implementing Graduation programs as well as various large-scale NGO partners operating globally.

Before joining BRAC, Lindsay was the president of InterAction, where she oversaw management, advocacy and outreach. She served on the Obama administration’s Task Force on Global Poverty, the steering committee of the World Bank Global Partnership for Social Accountability, the executive committee for Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, and the boards of Episcopal Relief and Development, United States Global Leadership Coalition, and Development Gateway. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of the South (Sewanee) and the University of Mississippi School of Law and attended the London School of Economics.