Caroline DeWaal

Caroline Smith DeWaal is a senior associate (non-resident) with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, following a career working as an innovative leader focused on consumer protection, with national and global food safety and agricultural policy expertise. At the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, DeWaal provided strategic integration for a food safety program within an international non-profit focused on addressing malnutrition. At GAIN, she also advocated for food safety protections for consumers at the greatest risk of malnutrition and spearheaded an effort to achieve global Guidelines for food hygiene controls in traditional markets for food, approved by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene in 2024. At the US Food and Drug Administration, DeWaal worked with foreign national governments to ensure bilateral alignment of national food safety systems. 

Working with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, DeWaal played a leading role in formulating the model for legislation, strategy and building a successful coalition to support passage of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (2011), heralded as the first comprehensive revision of U.S. food safety law in 75 years. She has a demonstrated ability to innovate and manage a diverse portfolio that integrates research and policy. DeWaal holds a Juris Doctor degree for Antioch School of Law and a BA in political science from the University of Vermont. In 2024 she will receive the International Association of Food Protection’s Food Safety Award for contributions to the field of food safety. She also serves on the board of the Goldberg Charitable Corporation, which supports a university-wide Food Systems Chair at Harvard University and has held positions with advisory committees for the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration.