Dirk Dijkerman is a renowned figure in the development industry with a career spanning several decades in various high-ranking positions. He has worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the USG, among others. Dijkerman has a wealth of experience in development assistance, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and economic development, and has held several leadership positions to this end. He studied Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Cornell University, where he earned both his Master's and Ph.D. degrees.

Dijkerman's experience at USAID includes serving as the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, Chief Operating Officer in the Office of the Director of US Foreign Assistance, and Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s bureaus for policy and planning and for Asia and Near East affairs. He has also served as Mission Director in the Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, and the regional mission covering East and Southern Africa. Notably, from December 2014 to May 2015, he was the Executive Coordinator for USAID’s Ebola Task Force, a $2.4 billion program focusing on responding to the immediate crisis, mitigating its impact, and strengthening health care systems.

At the OECD, Dijkerman worked as a Special Advisor on its Strategy for Development, playing a crucial role in the organization's first-ever Strategy on Development that was adopted by all member governments. He also co-led an international effort to increase the use and quality of country systems by donors and partner countries and served as the U.S. negotiator for the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that created the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.