Ms. Strauss is an international economist and financial governance specialist with some 20 years’ success interfacing with government officials to assess, develop and implement economic policies and government capacity building strategies at the highest level. Formally trained in macroeconomics and applied econometrics, she holds a PhD from the Stockholm School of Economics. She has also participated in several executive training seminars on Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA), public financial management (PFM), budget support design, and financial programming.

Ms. Strauss has extensive hands-on experience from design, implementation, and evaluation of PFM reforms in numerous African countries as an employee of the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank, and more recently as a freelance consultant and as the Country Program Director for ODI’s Budget Strengthening Initiative in Liberia. In particular, she has been responsible for the design, oversight, and assessment of several institutional and budget support programs promoting effective PFM in both Liberia and Sierra Leone.