Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

Anne-Birgitte shares CAMFED’s deep belief that girls’ education is the road to individual freedom and one of the greatest opportunities to tackle the biggest challenges facing humanity.

She is a highly respected thought leader across the global community, bringing more than 30 years of both executive and non-executive leadership experience in international development and human rights to the CAMFED International Board. Anne-Birgitte has held many prominent leadership positions, including as Assistant Secretary General at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA; and as CEO of the LEGO Foundation and of Plan International.

Today, Anne-Birgitte is the founder and CEO of ABA Global Action, which advises leaders seeking to create value in the workplace, in their communities, and internationally through the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human rights.

In her lecture (above) at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, on April 27, 2023, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen discusses how funders talk about impact, arguing that impact is about the sustainable change generated through activities carried out collectively; attributing outcomes to a single actor is therefore near impossible. While philanthropic investment is crucial to igniting change, we must all be aware of the power dynamics often at play in international development, and recognize that the true expertise lies with stakeholders that are often from much less privileged backgrounds than the international donors. Anne-Birgitte explores these tensions and offers some solutions, which ensure that we are accountable first and foremost to the people we serve.