Lauren M. Phillips currently serves as Deputy Director for the Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. She is an international political economist and an expert in inclusive development, global governance, development finance and results based management. Prior to joining FAO in 2021, she worked in a variety of senior policy, strategy and advisory roles at the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (2015-2021). From 2008-2014, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics (2008-2014); prior to that she was a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (2005-08). She has also held a variety of private finance roles in the City of London and New York. She holds a PhD in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and master and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University, and is an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe.