Sarah MARNIESSE

Before becoming Head of AFD Campus, Sarah Marniesse gained a variety of experience in development aid policies. A graduate of the École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique (ENSAE), with a PhD in development economics, she joined AFD in 1999, after obtaining a post-doctorate at Michigan State University on the challenges of small business growth. 

She held various positions at AFD’s Research Department, where her work mainly focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty and development issues, as well as the introduction of the Global Public Goods (GPG) approach. She then joined the Operations Department, where she was responsible for public health projects, and then for urban development initiatives.

In 2012, she was seconded to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, as advisor to the Directorate General for Globalization, tasked with addressing issues related to the renewal of development aid (e.g. Development Conferences, Development law, rapporteur for the Faber-Naidoo report). She was then appointed Deputy to the Sub-Directorate for Development Policies. In 2014, she joined the office of Annick Girardin, Secretary of State for Development and Francophonie (French language and culture community), where she monitored development innovation issues related to digitalization, entrepreneurship and new economic models and research. 

Sarah Marniesse then took up the position of Director of the Mobilization of Research and Innovation Department at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), where she was responsible for promoting the social contribution of research. She returned to AFD in 2018 as Head of the Development Campus (which has since become AFD Campus) with the aim of exploring new ways of learning to speed up the transition to a shared world. 

With the firm belief that the complexity and uncertainty of the modern world require new approaches to development, research and training, Sarah Marniesse has throughout her career championed collective intelligence, co-creation and technology to provide meaningful solutions.  

With an AFD Campus team committed to adopting a revamped, partnership-based approach to training, she supports the integration of new skills into learning pathways (21st century skills such as creativity, collective intelligence and leadership) and innovative formats (use of digital technology, peer-to-peer exchanges and project- or idea-based approaches).

Some examples of the products developed include the AFD Edflex portal of online teaching resources and educational videos, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses, or free courses accessible to all), learning communities promoting peer-to-peer exchanges and collective intelligence, as well as student-centered teaching methods. 

Sarah Marniesse has committed to this path because she strongly believes that focusing on human qualities and our ability to transform will be essential for the transition to a better, future world.