Elizabeth Littlefield

Elizabeth L. Littlefield is the President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government's development finance agency. She was nominated to the Under Secretary-level position by President Barack Obama on November 19, 2009 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 2010. She was sworn into office on October 1, 2010 by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
OPIC, which has markedly increased its investment portfolio and reach in recent years to roughly $20 billion across more than 100 developing nations, provides loans, guarantees and political risk insurance for foreign direct investment by American companies in order to foster development, advance US foreign policy objectives and tap into commercial opportunities in the emerging markets. The Agency operates on a self-sustaining basis and has contributed revenue to the U.S. Treasury for the past 38 years.
During her tenure at OPIC, Littlefield emphasized the development role and contributions of the Agency. Investments increased markedly in Sub-Saharan Africa (250 percent from 2009 to 2015), in renewable resources, and microfinance, which topped $1 billion in 2016. The Agency also launched or expanded several impact investing initiatives to engage a wider range of socially responsible enterprises and co-investors in the developing nations. OPIC's financing for private sector project is central to President Obama's signature Power Africa initiative, and in 2015 the Agency achieved its first-stage Power Africa target of $1.5 billion in financing.
Littlefield has been appointed by President Obama to serve as a member of the White House Global Development Council and the President’s Export Council. She was presented in 2012 with the U.S. State Department's Distinguished Service Award, the highest award in the Foreign Service, by then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Early life

A native of Boston, Littlefield attended the Fondation Nationale de Sciences Politiques and Columbia University in Paris, France in 1981, obtaining a Certificat d'Etudes de Sciences Politiques. In 1982, she graduated cum laude from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island with a BA in International Relations.

Career

In 1983, Littlefield joined the global investment banking and advisory services firm JP Morgan, the start of a 15-year career with the institution.

Based in New York City, in her first three years, she progressed from trainee to assistant treasurer to Assistant Vice President of international banking. Among other responsibilities she managed relationships of J.P. Morgan with financial institution in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. During this time, she began collaborating with Women's World Banking, a global nonprofit devoted to giving more low-income women access to the financial tools, education and resources they require to build security and prosperity.

From 1986 to 1988, Littlefield was J.P. Morgan's Director of Investment Banking based in Paris. She was responsible for design, creation, marketing and technical aspects of 24 multi-currency investment funds incorporated in France and Luxembourg.

While working in Paris, she persuaded J.P. Morgan to allow her to a one-year sabbatical from 1989-1990 to work as consultant on operations and strategy to several start-up microfinance institutions in Central and West Africa. She advised the Gambia Women's Finance Corporation as well as start-up microfinance institutions in Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

From April 1990 to December 1992, Littlefield was based in London in Emerging Market Sales and Trading for JP Morgan, in which capacity she was Head Debt Trader for loans and bonds of 42 countries across Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. During this time, Littlefield crafted also discounted debt structures, such as debt-equity conversions and debt-development swaps, eight of which were completed.

In January 1993, Littlefield became Managing Director of Emerging Markets Capital Markets at JP Morgan, responsible for financings across Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, nations of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa. During this time she and her team secured inaugural financing mandates in the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Oman, Lithuania, Slovenia, Turkey, Greece, Hungary and Kazakhstan. Additional deal mandates were obtained in Qatar, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Morocco and Romania. The deals involved public and private debt issues both structured and straight, derivatives, credit rating advisory services, debt repurchases and other debt management transactions for sovereigns, corporates, Paris Club creditors and banks.

Beginning in 1999, Littlefield served in a joint capacity as a Director of the World Bank's Financial and Private Sector Division, and Chief Executive Officer of The Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) from 1999 to 2010.

CGAP is a global donor consortium for microfinance housed at the World Bank which operates in 60 countries. Microfinance is the business of delivering financial services, such as savings, insurance, money transfers and loans, to the urban and rural poor in developing countries. CGAP was created to help build a worldwide microfinance industry by setting standards, influencing policy, providing technical services and strategic advice, and carrying out and disseminating research on innovations and best practices. CGAP’s clients are microfinance institutions, (whether credit unions, village banks, regulated financial institutions or NGOs), donors, policy makers and other service providers.

Other activities

Littlefield is a former Board Member, Executive Committee Member and Treasurer of Women's World Banking.

Littlefield has served on the Boards and Executive Committees of the MasterCard Foundation and the Calvert Foundation.

Littlefield was a founder of the Emerging Markets Charity in the United Kingdom.

She is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations.

She has served as the Chairperson of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Social Innovation.

Personal life

Littlefield is married to Matthew B. Arnold, and has two stepsons. She holds dual citizenship in the United States and United Kingdom. She is fluent in English and French.