Elisa Peter

Advisory Council

Elisa Peter was the Executive Director of Publish What You Pay (PWYP) from 2016 to 2022 – the global grassroots movement advocating for transparency, participation and accountability in the extractives sector.  Under Elisa’s leadership, the movement operated a strategic shift from its historic focus on data disclosure to a focus on greater citizen participation in the governance of oil, gas and mineral extraction. This includes leveraging global commitments to influence local processes, including proper implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent processes with communities affected by extraction, and fostering benefit-sharing mechanisms that meet the needs of citizens in resource-rich countries, with a particular focus on women and vulnerable groups.

Prior to joining PWYP in 2016,  Elisa advised The Elders, a group of former Heads of state and Nobel Prize winners brought together by Nelson Mandela, on political strategies for peace and security, sustainable development, climate justice and women’s rights. From 2006 to 2012 she served as the Head of the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service in New York, an inter-agency service supporting the meaningful participation of civil society in U.N. decision-making processes related to the global development, peace and security agenda. Earlier in her career, Elisa lived in an indigenous community in the arctic for five years, campaigning for land and environmental rights.

Elisa currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership and was a member of the Board of Directors of CIVICUS  the Global Alliance for Citizen Participation between 2013 and 2017.

Elisa has lived and worked in eight countries and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.