Lisa Ortiz holds a doctoral degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley with concentrations in macroeconomics, international economics, and economic development. In addition, she has over eleven years of professional experience in economic policy, research, and analysis, including more than seven years in the foreign policy arena working on issues of economic development and economic growth.

Dr. Ortiz has courses in economic theory and quantitative methods at both the undergraduate and graduate-level, most recently at Franklin and Marshall College where she was an Assistant Professor of Economics. Currently she is a senior economist at the Department of Treasury where she focuses on issues of development effectiveness and results measurement. She is also a principal advisor to Treasury on the the Bush Administration's reform of development assistance. Prior to holding this position she served as both bureau economist and trade economist in the Africa Bureau of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).