Libby Whitbeck Wood

Winrock’s Chief of Staff and Director of Public Policy Libby Whitbeck Wood works with the executive and leadership teams across the organization, serves as chief liaison to the board of directors, and manages Winrock’s interactions with the U.S. Congress and other government officials. Before joining Winrock, Wood worked for the U.S. Agency on International Development, where she advised the administrator on fiscal appropriations. Whitbeck entered government service in 2009, working as a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and helping Committee Chair Blanche Lincoln pass the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. In 2011, she became U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s lead foreign affairs adviser, working with the senator to pass numerous legislative initiatives related to international child welfare, including the creation of a $45 million program at USAID focused on improving child protective services and family welfare systems overseas. In 2016, Wood worked as a United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees Fellow, helping the agency craft the New York Declaration on Mass Movements of Refugees and Migrants. She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and her master’s degree from Harvard University. A native Arkansan, she is a proud graduate of Little Rock Central High School. Wood studied Swahili for many years and enjoys practicing the language whenever she gets the chance.