Nilimini Rubin can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t conscious of international development.
“My parents were both born in a developing country,” she said. “The difference between the life they left and the life they led in the United States always intrigued me.”
Her personal interest led Rubin to pursue an undergraduate degree in development studies and economics and a master’s in business administration, both from the University of California at Berkeley.
A 1997 Fulbright scholar-elect and 2006 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Rubin served at the National Security Council as director for international finance and at the G-8, before joining the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a senior adviser to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). Among a long list of impressive accomplishments, she cites her role in fighting corruption through reform of multilateral development banks and efforts to prevent money earned by resource-rich countries from being stolen. More recently, she worked to secure passage of a transparency amendment in the financial regulatory reform bill, which U2 singer Bono referred to as “a clear thought in a traffic jam.”
Although her future is bright, Rubin is focused on the present.
“I try to savor my moments at work because I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help influence U.S. development policy,” she said.
When asked to look beyond her work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubin is deferential: “I want to keep having an impact and working in an environment that supports creativity. My current office is filled with dynamic, responsible and thoughtful people. … I can only hope I will be as lucky in the future.”
Read the announcement of Devex’s 40-under-40 honorees.
