Sara Pantuliano

Sara Pantuliano is chief executive at ODI, where she was previously managing director. She is the chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Seventh Advisory Group of the UN Peacebuilding Fund and a member of the High-Level Group on Humanitarian and Resilience Investing initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Sara is the editor-in-chief of Disasters journal and trustee of the board of Muslim Aid.

She previously led a high-profile UN response in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, acted as an observer at the IGAD Sudan peace process and lectured at the University of Dar es Salaam. Sara has served on a range of executive and advisory boards, including The New Humanitarian, SOS Sahel, Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre, the UN Association of the UK and UNFPA’s ICPD25 High-Level Commission.

She holds a doctorate in politics and international studies from the University of Leeds and has written extensively on conflict, peacebuilding and humanitarian affairs. She was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance and international development.