Stephen P Groff is an economist and Governor of the National Development Fund of Saudi Arabia.[1]

Stephen P Groff
Governor of the National Development Fund
Assumed office
February 2019
Ranking vice president of the Asian Development Bank
In office
September 2011 – February 2019
Preceded byC. Lawrence Greenwood
Personal details
BornCamp Lejeune, North Carolina, USA
SpouseMaria Theresa O. Regalado
Alma materYale University, Harvard University, Erasmus University
OccupationEconomist

Groff was appointed as Governor of the National Development Fund (NDF) in February, 2019. He is responsible for establishing this new $130 billion development finance institution with the objective of supporting economic diversification and raising the level of performance of sectoral funds and development banks in Saudi Arabia.[2][3][4]

He was previously ranking vice-president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] At ADB he was responsible for operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, amounting to over $6 billion in new lending every year and a portfolio of $35 billion.[13][14][15]

Education edit

Groff was raised in Warren, Vermont, and graduated from Harwood Union High School He has a BS from Yale University,[16] an MPA from the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and a PhD from the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Erasmus University.[17] He earned the Pearson–FT Non-Executive Director SRF BTEC Level 7 diploma and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[18][19][20]

Career edit

In February, 2019, Groff became the inaugural Governor of the National Development Fund (NDF). With a capital of $130 billion, NDF was established to enhance economic diversification as well as to promote sustainable development financing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. NDF oversees different Saudi development funds and banks, supervises their performance and efficiency, and ensures that each entity contributes effectively to Saudi Vision 2030. Under his leadership, NDF spearheaded the development of a number of new funds, including the National Infrastructure Fund[21] through a partnership with BlackRock.[22]

Groff was appointed as Vice President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in September 2011.[23] Previously, he served as Deputy Director for Development Cooperation at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and as Deputy Vice-President for Operations at the Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corporation.[24] He has also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Refugee Program and as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer.[13][14][15]

Groff serves on a number of advisory boards, including the Millennium Challenge Corporation,[25] the International Finance Forum,[26] CCICED,[27] World Learning,[28] Bretton Woods Committee,[28] Marine Stewardship Council,[29] Institute for Sustainable Communities[30] and the Global Footprint Network.[31]

Groff also writes regularly on a variety of climate change and development-related issues, including The Hill,[32] Project Syndicate,[33] The Wall Street Journal,[34][35] The Guardian[36] and The Huffington Post.[37]

In 2018, Groff was identified by Richtopia as one of the top 100 leaders from multilateral organizations.[38]

Personal life edit

Groff is married has two children. His family has lived in Vermont for generations and their roots there can be traced back to the 18th century. His Great-grandfather was the photographer Edmund Homer Royce of St. Albans.[39] His 3rd Great-grandfather was Vermont Congressman and Chief Justice Homer Elihu Royce and his 4th Great-uncle was Vermont Governor and Chief Justice Stephen Royce. His 5th Great-grandfather was Major Steven Royce who was a delegate to the convention that signed the 1774 Dorset Accords which led to an independent Vermont Republic and future statehood. Groff speaks Tagalog and French and is a sailor and triathlete.

Selected publications edit

  • Integrating media studies concepts into theories of the policy process: Enhancing the role of news media as a climate service in the wake of recurring extreme weather events. Journal of Environmental Media – March 1, 2023.[40]
  • The turbulent waters of climate action: Public trust, public attention, and climate policy intractability in developed countries. Erasmus University Rotterdam – February 2, 2023.[41]
  • Organizing the Asian Development Bank: Radical Transformation or Degenerative Irrelevance? The Elgar Companion to the Asian Development Bank – September 21, 2022.[42]
  • The Contemporary Social Contract and Conditions of Climate Policy Intractability. Global Perspectives – October 17, 2022.[43]
  • A contemporary social contract : An exploration of enabling factors influencing climate policy intractability in developed nations. Global Policy – August 5, 2022.[44]
  • International Climate Cooperation and the Watershed of Policy Streams. The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis – January 10, 2022.[45]]
  • Magnifying Focusing Events: Global Smoke Plumes and International Construal Connections in Newspaper Coverage of 2020 Wildfire Events. Frontiers in Communication – August 13, 2021.[46]
  • China’s City Clusters: Pioneering Future Mega-Urban Governance. American Affairs - May 21, 2019.[47]
  • To Resist the Robots, Invest in People. Project Syndicate - January 2, 2018.[48]
  • A buffer against protectionism. Boao Review - April 3, 2017.[49]
  • Climate Change Challenges for Vermont. VT Digger - March 19, 2017.[50]
  • An Infrastructure Crisis? Huffington Post - March 3, 2017.[51]
  • The Next Migrant Wave. Project Syndicate - December 29, 2016.[52]
  • How Will ASEAN Members Cope with Their Climate Change Challenge? Knowledge Wharton - March 10, 2016.[53]
  • Putting out Indonesia’s Fires. Project Syndicate - December 4, 2015.[54]
  • Overcoming Southeast Asia’s Barriers to Trade. The Wall Street Journal - June 30, 2015.[55]
  • Shifting the Gear toward Green Growth. People's Daily - October 17, 2014.[56]
  • Asean's Infrastructure Crisis. The Wall Street Journal - July 28, 2014.[57]
  • This Time We Must All Be Filipino. The Philippine Daily Inquirer - November 30, 2013.[58]
  • Will this be the 'Asian century'? The Guardian - April 18, 2012.[59]
  • The Peace Corps: Is Fifty Years Enough? The Huffington Post - August 28, 2011.[60]
  • Getting Value for Money: Effective Aid, Effective Development. Global Asia – June 10, 2011.[61]
  • Fund the fight against global poverty. The Christian Science Monitor - October 3, 2008.[62]

References edit

  1. ^ "Stephen Groff is Appointed as Governor of National Development Fund the official Saudi Press Agency".
  2. ^ "Stephen Groff, new governor of the Saudi National Development Fund | Arab News". 20 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Stephen Groff appointed head of Saudi National Development Fund". 20 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Saudi National Development Fund names Stephen Groff as governor". ArgaamPlus.
  5. ^ headhoncho (10 May 2017). "Stephen P Groff". Asian Development Bank. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. ^ "World Learning, Inc". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  7. ^ Choudhury, Geoff Cutmore, Saheli Roy (24 March 2017). "Boao Forum Hainan: Asian Development Bank VP Groff on Donald Trump". CNBC. Retrieved 24 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Stephen P Groff - Asia Clean Energy Forum". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Stephen Groff: The Next Migrant Wave - The Bretton Woods Committee". www.brettonwoods.org. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Public Lecture: Stephen Groff: Asia's Development Challenges". www.geas.fu-berlin.de. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  11. ^ ADB Financial Profile 2012. Asian Development Bank. 1 April 2012. ISBN 9789290926450. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ ADB Annual Report 2015: Scaling Up to Meet New Development Challenges. Asian Development Bank. 1 April 2016. ISBN 9789292575526. Retrieved 24 July 2017 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ a b Proceedings of the Regional Knowledge Forum on Post-Disaster Recovery. Asian Development Bank. 1 November 2015. ISBN 9789292572198. Retrieved 24 July 2017 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ a b Mulqueeny, Kala; Pont, Peter du (1 May 2014). Attaining Sustainable Energy Access for All: Third Asia-Pacific Dialogue on Clean Energy Governance, Policy, Law, and Regulation. Asian Development Bank. ISBN 9789292545338. Retrieved 24 July 2017 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ a b N; Baruah, ita; Arjal, Nischala (7 May 2014). "ADB's Stephen P Groff Examines Rise of Inequality in Middle Income Asia". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Media Library - Yale Whiffenpoofs Alumni Association, Inc". whiffalumni.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Stephen P. Groff". Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  18. ^ "Stephen Groff - International Economic Forum of the Americas". feia.forum-americas.org. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  19. ^ "Stephen P. Groff" (PDF). oecd.org. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations". Council on Foreign Relations.
  21. ^ "National Infrastructure Fund". Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Saudi Arabia launches national infrastructure fund with BlackRock". Reuters. October 25, 2021 – via www.reuters.com.
  23. ^ Bank, Asian Development (5 September 2011). "ADB Appoints Stephen P Groff as Vice-President". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  24. ^ "MCC CEO Danilovich Announces New Addition to Management Team - Millennium Challenge Corporation". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  25. ^ "Council: MCC Advisory Council". Millennium Challenge Corporation.
  26. ^ "Board of Directors_IFF". iff.org.cn.
  27. ^ "CCICED Membership Phase VI (2017--2021)".
  28. ^ a b "World Learning, Inc". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  29. ^ "About Us--Membership". www.cciced.net. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  30. ^ "ISC Welcomes Two Board Members". 30 October 2018.
  31. ^ "Our People - Global Footprint Network". Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  32. ^ "The Hill - Stephen P. Groff".
  33. ^ "Project Syndicate - the Smartest Op-Ed Articles from the World's Thought Leaders". www.project-syndicate.org. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  34. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (28 July 2014). "Asean's Infrastructure Crisis". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 July 2017 – via www.wsj.com.
  35. ^ Groff, Stephen (30 June 2015). "Overcoming Southeast Asia's Barriers to Trade". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 July 2017 – via www.wsj.com.
  36. ^ Groff, Stephen (15 July 2015). "How private sources of development finance could be key to Asia's future". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  37. ^ "Stephen P Groff - HuffPost". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  38. ^ "The 100 Most Influential People From Multilateral Organisations (TOP LIST)". 23 December 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  39. ^ "The Old Covered Bridges or Vermont; THE COVERED BRIDGE. By Herbert Wheaton Congdon. With photographs by Edmund Homer Royce. 150 pp. Brattle- boro, Vermont: Stephen Daye Press. $3.50". The New York Times. November 9, 1941 – via NYTimes.com.
  40. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (December 1, 2022). "Integrating media studies concepts into theories of the policy process: Enhancing the role of media as a climate service in the wake of recurring extreme weather events". Journal of Environmental Media. 3 (2): 233–254. doi:10.1386/jem_00088_1. S2CID 257475886 – via intellectdiscover.com.
  41. ^ Groff, Stephen (February 2, 2023). The turbulent waters of climate action: Public trust, public attention, and climate policy intractability in developed countries (Doctoral Thesis) – via Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  42. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (May 16, 2022). "Organizing the Asian Development Bank: Radical Transformation or Degenerative Irrelevance?". doi:10.2139/ssrn.4214601. S2CID 252445355. SSRN 4214601 – via papers.ssrn.com. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  43. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (February 3, 2022). "The Contemporary Social Contract and Conditions of Climate Policy Intractability". Global Perspectives. 3 (1). doi:10.1525/gp.2022.38730. S2CID 252979916 – via online.ucpress.edu.
  44. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (November 22, 2022). "A contemporary social contract : An exploration of enabling factors influencing climate policy intractability in developed nations". Global Policy. 13 (5): 721–735. doi:10.1111/1758-5899.13118. S2CID 251416741.
  45. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (January 2, 2023). "International Climate Cooperation and the Watershed of Policy Streams". Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice. 25 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1080/13876988.2021.2013104. S2CID 245873453 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  46. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (March 22, 2021). "Magnifying Focusing Events: Global Smoke Plumes and International Construal Connections in Newspaper Coverage of 2020 Wildfire Events". Frontiers in Communication. 6. doi:10.3389/fcomm.2021.713591.
  47. ^ "China's City Clusters: Pioneering Future Mega-Urban Governance". 20 May 2019.
  48. ^ "To Resist the Robots, Invest in People | by Stephen Groff". 3 January 2018.
  49. ^ P., Groff, Stephen (3 April 2017). "A buffer against protectionism". Retrieved 12 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. ^ "Stephen Groff: Climate change challenges for Vermont - VTDigger". 19 March 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  51. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (3 March 2017). "An Infrastructure Crisis?". HuffPost. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  52. ^ "The Next Migrant Wave | by Stephen Groff". 29 December 2016.
  53. ^ "How Will ASEAN Members Cope with Their Climate Change Challenge? - Knowledge@Wharton". Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  54. ^ "Putting out Indonesia's Fires | by Stephen Groff". 3 December 2015.
  55. ^ Groff, Stephen (30 June 2015). "Overcoming Southeast Asia's Barriers to Trade". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via www.wsj.com.
  56. ^ P., Groff, Stephen (17 October 2013). "Shifting the Gear toward Green Growth". Retrieved 12 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  57. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (28 July 2014). "Asean's Infrastructure Crisis". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via www.wsj.com.
  58. ^ "This time we must all be Filipino". 29 November 2013.
  59. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (18 April 2012). "Will this be the 'Asian century'? - Stephen P Groff". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  60. ^ Groff, Stephen P. (28 August 2011). "The Peace Corps: Is Fifty Years Enough?". HuffPost. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  61. ^ "Getting Value for Money: Effective Aid, Effective Development". Global Asia.
  62. ^ "Fund the fight against global poverty". Christian Science Monitor. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2018.