André Zandstra is the Global Director of Innovative Finance and Resource Mobilization, CGIAR. He is based in Rome, Italy. Zandstra is a development funding and finance expert with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of research and investment. Most recently, he served as the Director of Funder and External Engagement at the CGIAR System Organization, where he supported growth in CGIAR’s framework research programs, and led the development of an institution-wide strategy to increase and diversify funding across traditional and innovative finance channels. Prior to joining the CGIAR System Organization, he worked at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a CGIAR Center headquartered in Cali, Colombia, where he built institutional capacity for resource mobilization by establishing a global fundraising enterprise leveraging regional and country representation across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He has held various leadership and management positions as a philanthropic sector executive supporting research and building institutional capacity through individual, corporate and government strategies with international donors, multilateral funds, international finance institutions and innovative finance mechanisms. Before joining the CGIAR, he worked in Vancouver, Canada, at Telus World of Science and The University of British Columbia. He grew up internationally in close association CGIAR Centers in Colombia, The Philippines and Peru. He holds the degree of Master of Business Administration.
Website: CGIAR.org