Elisabeth Caesens

Executive Director

Elisabeth Caesens is the founder and Executive Director of Resource Matters. Together with the team, she conducts research on management of renewable energy resources to improve electricity access in the Congo, as well as analyses of mining transactions, fiscal flows, and corruption scandals in Congolese mining sector.

Before founding Resource Matters, she was a fellow at Open Society, where she examined hydropower agreements in Congo. Prior to that, she spent five years in Lubumbashi, capital of former Katanga province, where she set up and ran the Carter Center’s mining governance program (2010–2014). Elisabeth also served as a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris (2015–2019).

She holds a Master’s degree in Law and International Relations from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, a Master’s in Human Rights from Académie Universitaire de Louvain, and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School.