Teunis van Rheenen is the Director of Business Development and External Relations in the Director General’s Office, based in Washington, DC. He is also the Senior Director, Science Group Innovative Finance and Resource Mobilization for CGIAR. Dr. Van Rheenen has over 15 years of experience working in CGIAR developing and strengthening strategic partnerships, raising and diversifying funds, and enhancing business development strategies. In this role, he leads engagement with key partners and networks, pursues innovative fundraising activities, and provides strategic support across IFPRI’s offices, divisions, programs, and senior management team. In addition to ensuring that IFPRI’s partnerships and fundraising efforts are well-coordinated, Dr. van Rheenen has also been active in global events and projects that address food and nutrition security challenges and explore food systems transformation in developing countries, particularly in Asia and Africa. From 2006 to 2010 he held the position of Secretary to the IFPRI Board of Trustees.

Before joining IFPRI, Dr. van Rheenen was a Senior Economist at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute in The Hague, The Netherlands, focusing on issues related to nature and the economy. In this capacity, he provided leadership to numerous national and international projects, and successfully participated in many fundraising efforts. Prior to this, at the University of Goettingen, Dr. van Rheenen worked on a project studying natural resource management issues in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. He has extensive knowledge of Africa and worked for four years as the Scientific Coordinator of the Antenne Sahelienne Program in Burkina Faso. For his PhD, which he obtained from the Wageningen Agricultural University, Dr. van Rheenen studied farm-level optimal resource allocation in East Java, Indonesia.