WASHINGTON, D.C. June 4, 2018- Cadasta Foundation is pleased to welcome Amy Coughenour Betancourt as its new Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Amy will lead Cadasta’s next phase of strategic growth as the organization scales up its technology, services, partnerships, and impact.
Founded in 2015, Cadasta Foundation develops and promotes the use of simple digital tools and technologies to create accessible records of land, housing, and resource rights. Cadasta helps empower individuals, organizations, communities, and governments with the information they need to make data-driven decisions and put vulnerable communities and their needs on the map.
With over 28 years of experience, Amy is a results-oriented, mission-driven executive leader with a proven record of significantly growing organizations. Amy comes to Cadasta from the National Cooperative Business Association, CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) where she served as the Chief Operating Officer of International Programs from 2011 to 2018. In this role, she oversaw a team of over 800 staff and a near tripling of the portfolio in 20 countries across Africa, Latin America, and Asia working in resilience, food security, and rural development.
“I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to lead Cadasta Foundation at this time,” Amy stated. “The issue of land rights is a critical lever for advancing development across sectors. In my work on food security, youth and women’s empowerment, and livelihoods, I have seen first-hand how land rights are foundational to long-term security and well-being.”
Prior to her work at NCBA CLUSA, Amy worked as the Deputy Executive Director of the Pan American Development Foundation; the Deputy Director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Washington Director of the Center for Occupational Research and Development; and as the Vice President for North America for the International Vocational Education and Training Association (IVETA). She currently serves on the board of Interaction, the premier alliance of International NGOs working in humanitarian assistance and development.
Commenting on her appointment, Cadasta’s Board Chair, Liz Blake, said, “Amy is a results-oriented leader with a proven record for leading and growing operations that improve socioeconomic opportunities for vulnerable people around the world. I am confident that through Amy’s leadership, Cadasta will fully realize its tremendous potential to become the leading provider of technical tools and services to support the documentation of land and resource rights.”
Reflecting on her new role, Amy noted, “What drew me to Cadasta is its outstanding board of directors, its talented, dynamic team led by Chief Program Officer, Frank Pichel, and its digital tools that can unlock the power of land rights for millions of people. Now is the time to solidify our vision and shape new strategies to scale Cadasta’s work through more visibility, new investors, and new partnerships that lead to more secure, productive, and sustainable futures for vulnerable communities across the globe.”
For more information about Cadasta’s work visit: https://cadasta.org/
Notes to Editors:
- Amy’s full bio: https://cadasta.org/about-us/staff/amy-coughenour/
- Cadasta Foundation 2017 Annual Report: https://cadasta.org/annual-report-2017/
- Cadasta’s Twitter: @CadastaOrg
- Amy’s Twitter: @AmyCoughenourB
Media Contact: Madaleine Weber, Communications Manager, Cadasta Foundation, mweber@cadasta.org
