Samantha Custer

Samantha Custer is the Director of Policy Analysis at AidData. Samantha has over eight years of experience in the field of international development, with a focus on data-driven policymaking and social accountability.

Before joining AidData, Samantha served as the Director of Policy and Communications at AidData, where they increased the visibility of the organization with key target audiences and co-authored two flagship reports. Samantha also served as a Faculty Assistant to former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at Georgetown University and as a Consultant for Open Data and Social Accountability at the World Bank.

Samantha began their career as the Director for Language, Education and Development at SIL International, where they managed education programs in Asia. Samantha is a native speaker of English and Spanish and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.

Samantha Custer has a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, and a Graduate Certificate in Survey Research from the University of Connecticut. Samantha also has a Certificate in Indonesian Language (Bahasa Indonesia Untuk Penutur Asing) from Universitas Indonesia (UI) and a Bachelor of Science in International Business from Grove City College.

Samantha Custer reports to Bradley C. Parks, Executive Director. They work with Brooke Russell - Associate Director, Chinese Development Finance Program, Ammar A. Malik - Senior Research Scientist, and Alex Wooley - Director of Partnerships & Communications. A direct report to Samantha Custer is and Divya Mathew - Policy Specialist.