As the Chief Operating Officer for IFC, Ms. Stephanie von Friedeburg leads all IFC investment operations and advisory services, delivering private sector capital and solutions to create jobs, positive development outcomes, and opportunities in the world’s poorest and most fragile countries. In addition to overseeing new business, she manages IFC’s $55 billion debt and equity portfolio across 104 offices.
Ms. von Friedeburg began her World Bank Group career at IFC, spending more than two decades in IFC investment operations where she developed strong regional expertise in Africa and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in numerous industry sectors, including telecom, media, general manufacturing, and technology. With extensive experience in business development, transaction execution, and portfolio management, Ms. von Friedeburg has helped deliver significant private sector impact in emerging markets, including the growth of mobile throughout the developing world and IFC’s first large financings in Russia and Eastern Europe in the post-Soviet era.
Most recently, Ms. von Friedeburg served as IFC’s Chief Strategy and Resources Officer, where she led the development of IFC’s new strategy and aligned the organization’s resources in support of it. Prior to this, leveraging her more than ten years of experience investing in telecom and IT start-ups in emerging markets, she served as the World Bank Group Chief Information Officer, fundamentally transforming the IT organization to equip the World Bank Group to fight poverty in the 21st century.
Ms. von Friedeburg is an advocate for the advancement of women and a champion of diversity and inclusion, serving as Co-Chair of IFC‘s Diversity & Inclusion Council, and founding women’s networks at two international finance institutions.
Ms. von Friedeburg holds a seat on the Global Business Initiative External Advisory Board for Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, as well as on the CIO Advisory Board for Greylock Partners. She is Director Emeritus of the Board of the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union.
In addition to an MBA from the Wharton School, Ms. von Friedeburg holds a Master of Arts from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
