Stephen Groff was appointed on Thursday as governor of the Saudi National Development Fund by its board of directors, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s Economy and Planning Minister Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri, who is also deputy chairman of the fund’s board, said the decision to appoint Groff had been based on his expertise and deep understanding of development funds.
Groff has more than 30 years of experience in economic development and emerging markets and became vice president of the Asian Development Bank in September 2011, responsible for its operations in east and southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Prior to that he was deputy director for development cooperation at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and was deputy vice president for operations at Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corp.
Raised in Warren, Vermont, in the US, Groff graduated from Harwood Union High School. He is a 1986 graduate of Yale University, Connecticut, and attended Harvard Kennedy School university where he gained a master’s degree in public administration in 1996.
Groff serves on a number of advisory boards including World Learning, the Bretton Woods Committee, Marine Stewardship Council, and the Global Footprint Network. In 2018, he was named by Richtopia as one of the top 100 leaders from multilateral organizations.