Hiwot Mengesha is the director of business strategy and planning at Results for Development (R4D). She reports to the chief executive officer and president and works closely with staff and leaders across R4D to set and track annual goals, facilitate organizational and leadership effectiveness, execute strategic initiatives, and support cross-team collaboration. Working closely with the executive team, she helps with managing strategy creation; facilitates key goal setting, planning and reporting activities; manages enterprise risk register; leads process improvement projects to improve organizational performance; oversees internal knowledge management processes; and provides change management guidance and tools.
Dr. Mengesha has over 25 years of professional experience in the United States and Ethiopia in various industries, including international development, higher education, and international trade.
Prior to joining R4D, Dr. Mengesha worked at Save the Children for ten years, assuming increasingly responsible positions including most recently as the director of programs and operations overseeing efficient and effective human resourcing and operations of the Global Health portfolio. In Ethiopia, she worked for the Unilever multinational corporation, where she established systems and processes for a complex international trading practice under highly regulated foreign-exchange rules.
Dr. Mengesha holds a diploma from Addis Ababa University, a BA in international business and a master’s in international trade and investment policy from the George Washington University, and a doctor of management from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She is also a certified Six Sigma Green Belt in continuous improvement.
