Ydun Donahoe is a senior technical director of market systems and governance based in Santa Barbara, California. She provides technical support to projects and develops strategies and tools for use across ACDI/VOCA programs to strengthen market and food systems, principally in the areas of governance, policy, and trade. Prior to joining ACDI/VOCA in 2020, Ydun led projects in 16 countries for nonprofit, public, and private sector organizations. She served as the head of strategic initiatives at Apeel Sciences, where she led the company’s grant with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ydun also held positions with the Office of Global Analysis at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service as well as with Fintrac, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative (The Netherlands), and the Department of Food and Resource Economics (Denmark). Ydun holds an MS in agricultural economics from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a BA in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is proficient in Spanish and holds a certificate from the Springfield Center.
