Biography
Amy Coughenour Betancourt
CEO of Cadasta Foundation
Amy is a transformational social sector leader who has held executive and board roles for three decades. Currently, she leads Cadasta’s global team of technology, land, and development practitioners advancing land and resource rights through innovative GIS technology and services. Cadasta has grown its impact in five short years by strengthening the land rights of more than five million people, working with 87 partners in 38 countries and covering 20 million hectares of land.
Amy is a frequent global speaker on how to use geospatial technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals; women’s land rights and sustainable food and environmental systems; community land tenure and climate; and community data empowerment to address development challenges.
Prior to Cadasta, Amy was the Chief Operating Officer of International Programs at the National Cooperative Business Association/CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) for nearly seven years. She led a 300% increase in the portfolio and budget and a team of 850 staff delivering high-impact results in food security, agriculture productivity, and resilience in 20 countries.
As Deputy Executive Director of the Pan American Development Foundation for nine years, Amy led 400% growth in programs and business development in community-led development, sustainable agriculture, human rights, and disaster recovery in over 25 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Amy also worked on policy and leadership development as Deputy Director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After her departure, she was a CSIS Adjunct Fellow for 8 years.
Amy holds an M.A. in International Policy Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a B.A. in German from Central College. Amy speaks fluent Spanish and German; was a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Germany and lived and worked in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Austria. She serves on the boards of Manna Food Center and Interaction, the largest U.S. coalition of humanitarian and development NGOs.
