Paloma Adams-Allen is the president and CEO of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), a US government agency that invests in community-led development with a portfolio of more than 330 grants in 26 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining the IAF in 2017, Adams-Allen led global private sector partnership initiatives for the international NGO, Winrock International. Before that, she served as deputy assistant administrator for the United States Agency for International Development’s Latin America and Caribbean Bureau. Adams-Allen served as senior adviser for USAID/LAC, during which she created and led the Bureau’s public-private partnerships practice to accelerate the private sector’s support for high-impact development partnerships. She also spent a decade at the Organization of American States in policy, programming, and leadership roles focused on advancing integral development in the Americas.
Adams-Allen was born and raised in Strawberry Fields, Jamaica. She holds a bachelor’s degree in development studies from Brown University, a master’s in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center.
Adams-Allen was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
