Frances Seymour

Frances Seymour is the Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) with headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia. Prior to CIFOR, Ms. Seymour founded and directed the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington, DC.

At WRI, she guided the launch of The Access Initiative, a global civil society coalition promoting citizen involvement in environment-related decisions. She also authored and contributed to WRI publications critically examining the role of public and private international financial institutions in promoting sustainable development.

She previously served as Director of Development Assistance Policy at World Wildlife Fund, and spent five years in Indonesia with the Ford Foundation, where her grant-making focused on community forestry and human rights.

She has served on numerous boards and advisory committees, including those of World Neighbors, the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development, and the African Centre for Technology Studies.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a masters degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Author's website: Center for International Forestry Research