Mary Abdo is CEI's Global Managing Director. She is based in London and has an international remit, working closely with the CEO and Leadership Team across geographies to enable greater impact and institutional effectiveness. Mary also spends about half of her time leading projects, with a focus on projects in strategic philanthropy.
Mary joined CEI in late 2019 as Managing Director in Singapore and Asia. Over the preceding seven years, she had senior roles at global strategy houses L.E.K. Consulting and EY-Parthenon, where she worked in the firms' Global Education Practices, leading work with public and social impact clients.
Mary has supported organisations across more than 25 countries to develop strategies and capture innovations that maximise impact. She brings a particular interest in philanthropy and the use of evidence to advance impact through philanthropic organisations. She is a sector specialist in education, with a focus on lower- and middle-income countries.
Originally from Los Angeles, Mary has lived abroad since 2007, spending 12 years in Asia (Mumbai and Singapore), after five years in the UK. Prior to joining Parthenon in Mumbai in 2012, Mary was a manager at the Young Foundation, a social innovation think-and-do-tank in London, and had previously worked at McKinsey spin-off Portas Consulting (UK) and in grassroots education and philanthropy roles in the US.
Mary holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Pforzheimer Fellow in Non-Profit Management, and a Master from the College of Europe, which she attended as a Fulbright Fellow. She has a Bachelor's degree summa cum laude from the University of Southern California, which she attended as a Trustee Scholar.
