MENLO PARK, Calif. – Sarah T. Lucas joins The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as a program officer in its Global Development and Population Program, the Foundation announced today.

At the Hewlett Foundation, Lucas will focus on the use of data and policy research to inform policymaking that affects people in developing countries. Her work will include support to the Think Tank Initiative, a 10-year program that provides funding to nearly 50 policy research organizations in East and West Africa, Latin America and South Asia.  Lucas also will be responsible for the Foundation’s work on the effectiveness of development assistance.

Lucas comes to the Hewlett Foundation from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. development agency whose mission is to reduce global poverty in developing countries through economic growth, good governance and sound economic policies. During her more than six years at MCC, Lucas worked in several capacities. Most recently she led MCC’s partnership with the West African nation of Liberia to develop investments for economic growth and poverty reduction. Previously she served as a senior advisor in MCC’s Department of Policy and Evaluation. In this role she represented MCC in a number of government-wide initiatives related to implementation of the President’s Global Development Policy.

Prior to that, Lucas worked for five years for the Center for Global Development, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. There, she helped lead its effort to make the organization a key resource for policymakers, as well as for advocacy organizations that use research to inform policy.

“From her experience both in government and in a policy research organization, Sarah will bring knowledge and energy that will be a tremendous resource to our grantees,” said Ruth Levine, Director of the Global Development and Population Program.
Lucas holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from Wellesley College and a master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

She begins work January 27.

About The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1967 to help solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, the environment, global development and population, performing arts, and philanthropy, and it makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. A full list of all the Hewlett Foundation’s grants can be found here.

Contact:
Jon Jeter
Communications Officer
communications@hewlett.org