Beth S. Crawford
Assistant Director, General/Director, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ms Crawford, a national of the United States of America, holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Robert F. Wagner Graduate School, New York University, New York, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California. She started her career in July 1984 as US Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She continued her career working as an advisor in the study abroad office at the University of Maryland, College Park, and as a programme associate in the philanthropy department of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. She joined FAO in January 1997, working at Headquarters in positions from Programme and Budget Officer in the Office of Programme Budget and Evaluation (PBE) to Principal Officer in the Office of Strategy, Planning and Resources Management (OSP). In July 2013, she was appointed FAO Representative to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, based in Sri Lanka, and, in December 2015, she became Regional Programme Leader at FAO’s Regional Office for Africa in Ghana. In May 2017, Ms Crawford returned to FAO Headquarters as Deputy Director, Office of Strategy, Programme and Budget (OSP) and in January 2019 was appointed Director, OSP. The Director-General has promoted Ms Beth Crawford to Assistant Director-General level ad personam with effect from 1 September 2023.