Steven Wisman is the Director of Operations for the Millennium Villages Project. Working in collaboration with Millennium Promise’s key partners for this sustainable development initiative—Columbia University’s Earth Institute (EI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)—his responsibilities include management oversight, operational support, and partnership development services for the project’s local management teams responsible for implementing 14 programs, serving over 400,000 individuals, in 10 countries in West, East and Southern Africa.

Previously, Mr. Wisman worked for two international nongovernmental organizations, OICI and IFESH, over a 22-year period in a variety of positions—Vice President, Programs; Regional Director; Country Representative; Technical Advisor; Resource Mobilization Specialist; and Program Officer—on projects concerning technical skills training, employment generation, community development, and capacity building. During this time, 11 years were spent based in South Africa (2001-2002), Liberia (1998-2000), and Sierra Leone (1989-1995). In South Africa, his regional responsibilities included the management of an education and training program in the KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces; the design, oversight and technical support for post-conflict rehabilitation and development projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia; and operational and technical support provided to a community development program in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. In Liberia, he served as project director for a post-war community reconstruction program in severely war-affected areas. In Sierra Leone, he provided management, training and technical assistance services to projects concentrating on microenterprise development, capacity building, and education, counseling, and training for war-affected youths.

Mr. Wisman has a Masters of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University with a concentration in International Economics and Development, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College. He was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Agadez, Niger. In addition, he has served as a grants panel member for the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP); a speaker on African youth employment challenges at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute; and as an intern with the U.S. Department of State in Cotonou, Benin; the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York, N.Y.; and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.