Elizabeth Powley

Elizabeth is a values-driven leader and expert in civil society development and nonprofit health, with a background in gender and post-conflict reconstruction. 

She is the Director of Grants Management at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In this role, she oversees grants processes, systems, and data, ensuring the highest quality of grants administration across the Foundation’s programs. She leads the team responsible for equitable and effective grant operations that advance the Foundation’s strategy and impact.

From 2012 – 2017, before joining the MacArthur Foundation, she was the first Executive Director of Heartland Alliance International (HAI), a global organization that provides healing and justice to victims of human rights abuses and helps to build systems to prevent such violations. Under her leadership, the organization’s budget nearly tripled in a five-year period and grew to serve 700,000 victims of violence annually across Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. 

Elizabeth is a former educator and the recipient of fellowships with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (2022-2023), the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2016) and the Truman National Security Project (2010). Elizabeth holds a BA in History from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa and an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC.