Dr. Yvonne Pinto is the Director General of IRRI, where she provides strategic leadership to advance resilient, sustainable, and inclusive rice-based food systems. She led the development of IRRI's 2025–2030 Strategy and guides the Institute's scientific and innovation agenda to address some of the world's most pressing challenges in climate resilience, food and nutrition security, environmental sustainability, and rural livelihoods. She also champions the responsible application of digital technologies and data across CGIAR and serves as CGIAR's Asia-Pacific Regional Representative.

Dr. Pinto has a long career focused on technology generation, innovation ecosystems, and international development. She began her career in agricultural research and academia before spending 15 years in private philanthropy, where she created and implemented investments in agriculture, enterprise, finance, and education, including the establishment of successful institutions, particularly in Africa.

Throughout her career, Dr. Pinto has worked collaboratively with governments, UN agencies, international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral donors, independent private foundations, and the private sector across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. She has worked respectfully to challenge institutions to think differently and to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of their work, always with an emphasis on robust evidence and listening to a diversity of views. Her experience has ranged from advancing solutions to some of the most intractable disease challenges affecting African agriculture to understanding the successful elements of digital economies and technology ecosystems at the policy and practice level globally. She has a keen interest in big data and its interface with science and sustainability in the bio-revolution that is upon us.

Over more than three decades, Dr. Pinto has advised governments, donors, research organizations, and private-sector partners on agricultural transformation, innovation ecosystems, commercialization, digital agriculture, monitoring and evaluation, ESG, policy development, and institutional capacity strengthening. She has worked with more than 250 organizations, supporting evidence-based decision-making and the adoption of innovation across agriculture and international development.

A strong advocate for good governance, Dr. Pinto has served on boards for more than 25 years as Chair, Committee Chair, Board Member, and Company Secretary. She is committed to ensuring that science and innovation translate into meaningful impact for farmers, food systems, and society.

Yvonne has a BSc in Plant Sciences and Agriculture from Reading University, an MSc in Biotechnology and a Ph.D. in Virology from Imperial College, and a General Management Executive Education from Cambridge University.