Éliane Ubalijoro, PhD, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and the Director General of ICRAF. An accomplished leader with a background in agriculture and molecular genetics, she serves on several boards and has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to innovation, gender equity, and sustainable prosperity creation.

Born in Rwanda and raised across three continents, Dr. Ubalijoro knew from a young age that she wanted a career in service to the world. She earned a bachelor’s degree in general agriculture and a master’s and doctorate in molecular genetics from McGill University, where she studied ways to improve agricultural productivity. With a career spanning academia, the private sector, and the nonprofit and international development sectors, she began as a scientific director in the biotechnology sector, working in molecular diagnostics. She later pivoted to focus on sustainable development and improving the lives of women and smallholder farmers in emerging economies.

Dr. Ubalijoro has been a professor of practice for public-private sector partnerships at McGill University since 2008. From 2021 to March 2023, she served as the Executive Director of Sustainability in the Digital Age and the Canada Hub Director for Future Earth. She is a member of Rwanda’s National Science and Technology Council and Presidential Advisory Council, the Impact Advisory Board of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet, the Science for Africa Foundation, the Capitals Coalition Supervisory Board, and the External Advisory Committee to the Chief Statistician of Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada on Canada’s first Census of Environment. She also serves on advisory boards for Digital Green and Genome Canada, among others. Additionally, she is a fellow of the International Science Council.

Before returning to academia, Dr. Ubalijoro was a scientific director at a Montreal-based biotechnology company, leading molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics discovery programs. This work led her to undertake consulting projects in Haiti and Africa focused on sustainable, climate-resilient economic growth.

Recognized for her leadership and advocacy for gender equity, Dr. Ubalijoro received the International Leadership Association’s 2022 Women and Leadership Award for outstanding practice with broad impact. She was also appointed a fellow of the International Science Council for her contributions to promoting science as a global public good. She has facilitated the UNAIDS Leadership Programme for Women at the United Nations System Staff College. Dr. Ubalijoro was a member of FemStep, a research network amplifying rural girls’ and women’s perspectives on poverty reduction strategies in Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, DR Congo, and Ethiopia through arts-based methodologies.

In 2018, she co-facilitated the second Global Women in Science Leadership Workshop in Rwanda with support from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Her career was featured in Forbes in celebration of International Women’s Day 2019.

Previously, Dr. Ubalijoro founded C.L.E.A.R. International Development Inc., a consulting group leveraging global networks for sustainable systems development. From 2019 to 2021, she served as the Deputy Executive Director for Programs at Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN). She was also a board member of WWF International and served on the Executive Board of the Crop Trust.

She is a co-editor of the 2021 book Building Resilient African Food Systems after COVID-19 and contributed to expert groups, including the Post-COVID-19 Implications on Collaborative Governance of Genomics Research, Innovation, and Genetic Diversity and the African Development Bank’s Expert Global Community of Practice on COVID-19 Response Strategies in Africa. She is also a member of the Africa Space Council.

Additionally, Dr. Ubalijoro served as a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) Special Policy Study on Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Conservation.