Rossana Zetina-Beale

Rossana Zetina-Beale is an innovation policy expert and a Project Management Professional-certified project manager with 18 years of experience in the design and implementation of U.S. government funded programs, internationally and domestically.

Ms. Zetina-Beale joined RTI in 2009 and is currently a Senior Innovation Policy Analyst. Her work is focused on science and technology policy, evaluation, and impact assessment of research programs for government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). She has also evaluated programs for private sector clients, including Meta’s Hard Hat in Hand program.

During her tenure at RTI, Ms. Zetina-Beale also served as Project Manager for USAID-funded governance, workforce, and higher education projects in francophone Africa, Asia, and Latin America. From 2013-2022, she served in leadership roles, including as Deputy Chief of Party for the Science, Technology, Research, and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) program. As DCOP, Ms. Zetina-Beale advised government and higher education institutions on innovation policy for innovation-led economic growth in the Philippines.

Prior to this role, Ms. Zetina-Beale provided leadership as branch manager for El Centro Hispano (ECH) in Carrboro-Chapel Hill, the largest grassroots Latino organization in North Carolina. In this role, she established, maintained, and expanded relationships and partnerships with individuals and organizations. She coordinated ECH’s community organizers, led fundraising activities, supported government grant writing efforts, and developed and implemented monitoring and evaluation plans for existing programs. 

As a leader in equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) initiatives within RTI, she integrates this skillset to every aspect of her work. Ms. Zetina Beale is bilingual in English and Spanish with professional working proficiency in French, and limited proficiency in Portuguese.

She is a Certified Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute), and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Evaluation Association.