Martin Burt, MA ’83

Joined Fall 2026

Dr. Martin Burt is a world-renowned social entrepreneur. He has developed various anti-poverty and educational social innovations that are currently being implemented on five continents, in countries including the U.S. and the UK. He is the founder (1985) and CEO of Fundación Paraguaya, a social enterprise named Latin America’s most impactful and innovative development organization in 2018 by the Inter-American Development Bank. Burt is currently a member of the board of directors of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum, the Global Foodbanking Network, Teach A Man to Fish and the Bertoni Nature Conservancy Foundation. 

In public service, he has served as chief of staff to the president of Paraguay, was elected mayor of Asunción, and was appointed vice minister of commerce. Burt has written books on economics, development, municipal government, poetry, and education. His latest book, Who Owns Poverty? was published in September 2019. He has received awards from organizations including Skoll Foundation, Schwab Foundation, Synergos, Eisenhower Fellowship, Inter-American Development Bank, World Innovation Summit for Education, Avina Foundation, and Nestlé. 

He holds a Ph.D. from Tulane University and is a visiting professor of social entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a distinguished visiting professor at University of California, Irvine. He received his master's in International Science and Technology Policy from GW's Elliott School of International Affairs and was recognized with the GW Monumental Alumni Award in 2021 upon GW's 200th anniversary.