Josefina Stubbs has lived “too many lives,” she joked with Devex, though her continued passion for development work suggests she’s just getting started.
Hailing from the Dominican Republic, where she began working with smallholder farmers in the coffee sector more than 30 years ago, she then spent 16 years at Oxfam International and 11 years at the World Bank. Stubbs is now one of two associate vice presidents at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a specialized United Nations agency.
Appointed in Oct. 2014 as VP and chief development strategist, Stubbs describes herself as a “passionate development worker” who firmly believes that everybody should have the same opportunities she had and whose objective is to “permanently remind the world that it cannot live without the rural sector.”
About the author
Elena L. Pasquini@elenapasquini
Elena Pasquini covers the development work of the European Union as well as various U.N. food and agricultural agencies for Devex News. Based in Rome, she also reports on Italy's aid reforms and attends the European Development Days and other events across Europe. She has interviewed top international development officials, including European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs. Elena has contributed to Italian and international magazines, newspapers and news portals since 1995.
