Betsy Bassan

Betsy Bassan is the Chair of the Board and President Emeritus of Panagora Group, a woman- and employee-owned social enterprise she founded in 2011. She served as Panagora’s President and CEO until September 2024 and continues to provide leadership and targeted support with strategic growth, external engagement, and culture and knowledge retention. 

Betsy brings over 30 years of experience as an innovator in the international development field. From 2011 to 2024, Betsy grew Panagora into a successful company with a proven track record of excellence providing novel solutions in health, development, and learning, with more than 200 long-term employees and over 300 short-term contractors working in and supporting 55 countries. The company was named Small Business of the Year for FY2018 by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Panagora’s main client. 

Betsy is an industry leader who has developed novel approaches to address major global health challenges and she works tirelessly to elevate the voice of small and women-owned business in international development. Through the Panagora platform, Betsy led the founding of the Council for International Development Companies (CIDC) and, as chair, transformed the Small Business Association for International Companies (SBAIC) over three pivotal years from an informal network into a registered and recognized advocate. Through the USGLC, a membership-based foreign aid advocacy group, Betsy helped build support for critical foreign aid programs. As Program Vice President and then Chair of the Society for International Development-Washington D.C., a leading professional association, she greatly enhanced its profile as the “the public square of development” through cutting-edge knowledge exchange. In 2021, she co-founded the Global Small Business Sustainability Coalition, which works to voice the needs of larger small businesses seeking to graduate successfully and continue partnering in support of international health and development. 

As a 2021 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic region and a 2020 Enterprising Woman of the Year Awardee for her leadership and mentorship of other women entrepreneurs, Betsy is a recognized business leader. Panagora was on Inc. Magazine’s list of “5,000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America” three times; in 2019 and 2020, we ranked in the top 10 percent and top 20 percent respectively and in 2022 in the top 30 percent. We also ranked number 12 on the Women Presidents’ Organization list of “50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned and Led Companies” in 2020.  

She lived overseas for seven years in Kenya and Sudan, where she worked for a variety of NGOs and USAID missions. She holds an M.A. from Columbia University in New York City, where she completed a joint degree program (Planning in Developing Nations) in the School of International Affairs and the Division of Urban Planning; and a B.A. cum laude from St. John’s College, Great Books Program, in Annapolis, Maryland. She speaks French. Betsy has three children: Madeleine, Rebecca, and Ben.  

Industry Leadership

Betsy has held a host of industry leadership positions among the leading professional, advocacy, trade associations in our space. Through the USGLC, a membership-based foreign aid advocacy group, Betsy helped build support for critical foreign aid programs. As Program Vice President and then Chair of the Society for International Development-Washington D.C., a leading professional association, she greatly enhanced its profile as the “the public square of development” through cutting-edge knowledge exchange.

As an industry leader who has developed novel approaches to major global health problems, Betsy also works tirelessly to elevate the voice of small business in international development. Through the Panagora platform, Betsy led the founding of the Council for International Development Companies (CIDC) and, as chair, transformed the Small Business Association for International Companies (SBAIC) over three pivotal years from an informal network into a registered and recognized advocate.