Today, international development and anti-poverty organization Oxfam America announced that Fatema Z. Sumar is joining Oxfam’s Senior Leadership Team as Vice President of Global Programs.
Ms. Sumar joins Oxfam America following a distinguished career in the U.S. government where she led U.S. efforts to advance sustainable development and economic policy in emerging markets and fragile countries. Most recently, Ms. Sumar served as Regional Deputy Vice President for Europe, Asia, Pacific, and Latin America at the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), where she managed investments focused on international growth and poverty reduction. Prior to MCC, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State and as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Chairman John Kerry.
She holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. She studied abroad at the American University in Cairo.
“With nearly one out of every three people globally living in poverty, I am honored to join Oxfam in leading the way to tackle the root causes of poverty and create lasting solutions,” said Ms. Sumar. “I look forward to working with colleagues across the world to strengthen and expand programs in the communities Oxfam serves.”
Ms. Sumar was profiled by the National Journal for "The 35 and Under Power Set" in 2012, and was a Presidential Management Fellow and National Finalist for the White House Fellows. She is a member of the Truman National Security Project and Council on Foreign Relations and a Foreign Policy Interrupted Fellow. She also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Trustees for Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, a Chinese language immersion public charter elementary school in Washington, DC.
“Fatema has great depth of experience in the international development sector and demonstrated success in finding programmatic and policy-oriented solutions to combat global poverty. Oxfam’s mission to end poverty, hunger, and injustice has never been more urgent than it is today, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have Fatema join our senior leadership team.” said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America.