Nicola Smithers is Co-Global Lead on Managing Public Finance Global Solutions Group in the Governance Global Practice. She is Lead Specialist and Public Financial Management Cluster Leader in the GGP Governance Systems team. Previously, she coordinated the Open Budgeting program in the World Bank Institute (WBI). She was the head of the multi-donor Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Secretariat, leading the development of the internationally adopted PEFA performance measurement framework that was launched in 2005. She also led public sector projects for the World Bank’s Africa region, and provided technical assistance in South Asia and the Caribbean. She was a resident DFID adviser in East Africa and an ODI fellow in Fiji. She is a UK Chartered Accountant.