After completing nine and a half years as executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dr Fahmida Khatun will take on the role of distinguished fellow at the organisation from September 1. The decision was approved at CPD’s 68th Board meeting.

She has been associated with CPD since 2003 and has served as the organisation’s executive director since February 2017. Under her leadership, from February 2017 to August 2026, the scope, diversity and quality of CPD’s research programs expanded significantly.

During this period, the number of funded projects and programs, as well as the number of funding agencies and development partners, increased several-fold. Through sustained resource mobilisation, prudent financial management and strategic planning, CPD’s development fund increased by approximately 590 percent and its annual income by around 171 percent under her leadership.

She also led significant improvements in CPD’s physical and technological infrastructure, staff professional development, research capacity, publication quality, digitalisation and institutional governance. The organisation has also established a strong foundation for its future growth.

Before joining CPD, Dr Fahmida Khatun served as a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) as well as holding senior professional positions at the UNDP and USAID missions in Bangladesh. She has taught economics at various universities in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, alongside associating with various research and policy institutions in the international arena.

She earned her PhD and master’s degree in economics from University College London, and also conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University in the United States. Her research interests include macroeconomic policy, fiscal and monetary policy, governance in the banking and financial sectors, international trade and the economic transformation of least developed countries.

Dr Fahmida Khatun is also associated with several important institutions at home and abroad. She is a member of the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI). She is also a member of the High-Level Advisory Board on the Productive Capacities Index of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

She is a member of Boston University’s International Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Financial Architecture. She also serves as a member of the boards of directors of BRAC and Bangladesh Bank.