Yemesrach Assefa Workie, was appointed as the first Executive Director of IATI in June 2024. Ms. Workie has extensive experience in international development serving in different capacities within the United Nations and other multilateral organisations. Before taking up the position of Executive Director of International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), Yemesrach was the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Fiji Multi-Country Office from September 2021– May 2024. 

She joined UNDP in 2005, as an Economic Specialist in the Policy Unit of UNDP Ethiopia Country Office.  Since then, Yemesrach has held multiple positions in UNDP, including Senior Policy Advisor in Philippines as well as Economics Advisor in UNDP Uganda, Rwanda and The Gambia. Yemesrach’s international career began in the pan-African institution, when she joined as a Senior Policy Officer in the Strategic and Policy Directorate of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Tunis (2011-2014). 

Yemesrach has diverse experience serving in a central bank, academia and international research organisations and the humanitarian space. Yemesrach was Research Officer in the Central Bank of Ethiopia. She has coordinated WFP funded School Feeding Programme (2003-2006), one of Africa’s largest Social Protection programmes focusing on children and education.  Furthermore, she has solid Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) experience following her dedicated service to the European Commission (EC) Delegation in Ethiopia as M&E Manager working within the Development Cooperation unit of the Delegation. She lectured in the Ethiopian Civil Service University College for three years and worked in the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which is one of the most prominent research centers within CGIAR. 

Yemesrach is an economist and holds a master’s degree in Economic Policy Management from the Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Yemesrach speaks three languages: Amharic, English, and French.