Dr. Beitler leads Microsoft Philanthropies in Asia Pacific. She works with her team across the region to leverage Microsoft’s strongest assets –technology, community investments, people and its voice – as a force for empowerment and inclusion. Her work spans across several areas, including youth engagment, natural disaster and human crises response, NGO capacity building, and accessibility.

Working in the field of international development for more than 12 years, Daiana’s professional and volunteer experience encompasses government, international organizations, corporations and NGOs. Before joining Microsoft, Daiana worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the Global Policy and Advocacy team. At the Foundation, she managed a significant portfolio of grants and contracts to advance advocacy efforts in donor markets and designed the Donor Govenrment Relations team’s national ‘defending aid’ campaign strategies.

Her experience also includes managing the Policy and Research team at Tony Blair Associates (TBA). Before joining TBA, Daiana lectured in economic sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, one of the leading universities in Europe. She also worked for McKinsey & Company in the Public Sector Practice, and for the New Economics Foundation, a think tank specialising in economic, social and environmental policy. Her experience also includes assignments for the Inter-American Development Bank and the Pan American Health Organisation (regional office of the World Health Organisation) in Washington, D.C.

Daiana holds a PhD in Economic Sociology from the London School of Economics and a master’s degree in Social Policy and Development from the same university. She authors and publishes on innovation policy and on the use of technology in government in peer-reviewed journals and is a frequent speaker in academic conferences. Daiana is originally from Uruguay and has two children, Ben and Zoe.