Elizabeth Marsden

Elizabeth Marsden has over eight years of experience in education and six years of academic and professional experience in international development with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Ms. Marsden worked as a secondary teacher prior to transitioning into working with education NGOs and has worked in various roles in this space, including conducting research, serving as a communications lead, and ensuring strategic alignment. Her passion for education led her to RTI where she now engages in both technical and operational work.

Ms. Marsden joined RTI in 2022 as a Project Associate in RTI’s International Education team. In this role, she has worked in both project management and technical activities, contributing to technical reports, research outputs, and business development efforts, as well as financial management and operational support of international education projects with multiple donors, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Her current doctoral research focus is on the influence of politics on education policy, with an emphasis on race and gender, and her past research has focused on economic empowerment initiatives, gender equity, and sexual and reproductive health rights.  

Ms. Marsden has working fluency in Portuguese and Spanish and is fluent in English.