On May 21, 2016. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Bank, spoke to graduating Batten students and their families about her global experience in public policy and the lessons learned.

Consistently named on Forbes’ most powerful women list each year, Indrawati has been the World Bank’s COO since 2010. As Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Sri Mulyani Indrawati is responsible for the World Bank’s operations worldwide. She works closely with client countries and member states to put operational strategies in place that address new and persistent development challenges in support of the World Bank’s goals of ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity.

Indrawati frequently represents the World Bank Group at the G20 and in other international fora. She is also responsible for the strategic direction and policy framework of the Bank’s Fund for the Poorest, IDA, one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 77 poorest countries.

She chairs the World Bank Group’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development, which brings together global leaders and experts on gender issues, including from the private sector.

Before joining the World Bank in June 2010, she served as Indonesia’s minister of finance in addition to being the coordinating minister of economic affairs. Her earlier positions include head of the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency, executive director at the International Monetary Fund, faculty member at the University of Indonesia and visiting professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy at Georgia State University. Indrawati holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois and a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Indonesia.