Christina Cairns, EMBA 22 — Creating Positive Change on a Global Scale
From OneHaas by Haas School of Business (Produced by University FM)
July 3, 2025 · 39 min
About this episode
Christina Cairns discusses her journey in international development and her work in expanding financial access for under-capitalized entrepreneurs.
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Christina Cairns, an international development professional who spent over 10 years at USAID and now helps expand financial access to under-capitalized business owners and entrepreneurs through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). With a background in international relations and environmental science, Christina joined USAID as a Foreign Service Officer in 2012 where she worked on climate change adaptation, clean energy, wildlife conservation, and improving economic conditions in places like sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Wanting to expand her financial knowledge, she decided to go back to school and pursue an Executive MBA at Haas in 2020. Christina chats with host Sean Li about her family’s deep roots in California, the challenging and inspiring work she’s done through various roles, including her time in the Foreign Service, the critical and often overlooked work of USAID, the impact of recent U.S. policy shifts, and her current role at the DFC. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.* Episode Quotes: On growing up as a fifth…
People in this episode
Host: Sean Li
Guest: Christina Cairns
Topics covered
- international development
- financial access
- climate change
- clean energy
- wildlife conservation
- economic conditions
Keywords
- international development
- USAID
- financial access
- climate change
- Executive MBA
- Haas School of Business
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: USAID, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
Places: sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean, California
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