Bettina Prato is the Senior Coordinator for the Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN). In this capacity, she leads the network’s Secretariat as well as the community of around 50 institutions that it comprises.

In a previous role, she was a Senior Global Engagement Specialist for several years, with responsibilities spanning policy engagement planning, implementation, and reporting. She is a co-author of the IFAD Rural Poverty Report 2011 and has contributed to the preparation of a number of IFAD corporate strategies and policies. She has also worked as a gender and post-conflict consultant in IFAD’s Programme Management Department.

Before joining IFAD in 2008, Prato worked as Project Coordinator for a non-profit organization operating in Darfur, Sudan, and earlier as Programme Associate in a policy research institution based in Washington, D.C. Her professional experience also includes private sector consulting and academic research and teaching.

Prato holds a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University, and a master’s degree in oriental languages from the University of Venice, Italy. She is a former Fulbright scholar.