Heidi Sumser leads the design, capitalization, and rollout of land restoration financing mechanisms under the Global Restoration Initiative, developing outcome finance partnerships and using blended finance approaches. She focuses on priority landscapes in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to joining WRI, Heidi worked as an Agriculture Finance Advisor at USAID where she managed programs and worked with diverse partners to increase access to private sector finance for agri-SMEs, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout her career in development finance, spanning MSME banking, impact investing, and climate finance, she has worked in and with financial institutions and partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors focused on Latin America to integrate sustainable finance into strategies, operations, and targets.

Heidi holds a MALD from the Fletcher School, Tufts University with concentrations in international business and development economics. She currently lives in the Washington, DC metro area and enjoys spending time with family and friends and being in nature.