The Role of Entrepreneurship in U.S. Development Policy

Featuring:

Wendy Abt, Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade (EGAT) Bureau, USAID

Mildred Callear, Executive Vice President, Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF)

Nancy Lee, General Manager of the Multilateral Investment Fund, Inter-American Development Bank

Brink Lindsey, Senior Scholar in Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Moderated by:

Michael Levett, Senior Director and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, CDC Development Solutions and Senior Associate for the Project on Prosperity and Development, CSIS Introductory

Remarks by:

Ashley E. Chandler, Research Associate for the Project on Prosperity and Development, CSIS

Please RSVP to Nikki Collins at ncollins@csis.org

While entrepreneurship is an area that enjoys bipartisan U.S. government support, it is none the less under-prioritized and under-funded. Other competing priorities receive time, attention, and ultimately, money over support for private enterprise. The limited resources directed toward private sector development do not reflect the central role of entrepreneurs in job creation and economic growth. As a result, we are not reaching the highest possible levels of global growth. The ability of the U.S. to support entrepreneurship and economic opportunity in developing countries is not only critical for its foreign policy goals, but also for U.S. national and economic security.

To mark this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, CSIS will host a conference on improving approaches to entrepreneurship and private-sector development in developing countries. Furthermore, the conference will highlight the ways in which the U.S. Government can do a better job supporting entrepreneurship.