Henrietta H. Fore became UNICEF’s seventh Executive Director on 1 January 2018. She has worked to champion economic development, education, health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in a public service, private sector and non-profit leadership career that spans more than four decades. Full bio.

RT Hon Gordon Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010 and is widely credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his stewardship of the 2009 London G20 summit. Full bio.

Alice P. Albright was appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education’s Secretariat in February 2013. Since joining GPE, Ms. Albright has strengthened the position of GPE to be a major delivery agency of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Full bio.

Stefania Giannini was appointed Assistant Director-General for Education in May 2018, becoming the top United Nations official in the field of education. In this position, she provides strategic vision and leadership for UNESCO’s Education Sector in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Education 2030 Agenda, encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goal 4. Full bio.

Kelly T. Clements joined UNHCR as Deputy High Commissioner on 6 July 2015. Clements has been closely involved with refugee and displacement issues throughout her three decade career. Full bio.

Matthew Rycroft has been the Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development since 22 January 2018.
Matthew was previously the British Permanent Representative to the United Nations from April 2015 to January 2018. Full bio.

Dr. Mohammad Mirwais Balkh joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in May 2013 and served as the head of Africa and Middle East Desk in the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) and as the Chief Editor of the CSS’ Quarterly Journal of Strategic Studies.

Christos Stylianides is a Cypriot politician who is the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management since November 1, 2014. On October 24th, 2014 he was appointed as the European Union’s Ebola Coordinator by the European Council.

Christine Schneeberger is the Minister for Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Affairs at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. Prior to her role as Minister, Schneeberger served as Deputy Head, Equal Opportunities and Global Women’s Issues, at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2015.

Kitty van der Heijden assumed the position of Director-General of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands, in August 2019.

Prior to this, Van der Heijden had been working at the World Resources Institute since 2014. In her previous position as Vice-President, Director Africa and Europe, she led the work on both continents, based in Ethiopia.

Dr Shah was appointed as President of the Rockefeller Foundation in January 2017, bringing over 20 years of experience in business and philanthropy to the role.

Appointed by President Obama in 2009, Dr Shah served as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, from 2010 to 2015.

Mr. Um leads Asian Development Bank-wide knowledge management and innovation in various thematic and sector operation areas. He is responsible for developing sector and thematic policies, strategies, frameworks and operational plans, encouraging vibrant sector and thematic communities of practice, and developing new business ideas.

Fitsum Arega is an Ethiopian diplomat who is the current Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States. He was the Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission and the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Carlos Dos Santos commenced his role as Mozambique’s ambassador to the United States on January 28, 2016. It’s the fourth such posting for Dos Santos, a career member of his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rasmus Prehn has been a Member of the Danish Parliament since 2005, and was appointed to his current position as Minister for Development Cooperation in June 2019.

From 2006, he served as the Science and Research Mayor, and from 2011 was the Transport Mayor. Prior to entering Parliament, Prehn has previously been a high school social sciences teacher.

Mr Mahboub M. Maalim is a Kenyan diplomat, and currently serves as the Executive Secretary for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). In this role he has led the launch of the IGAD Drought Resilience and Sustainability Initiative, and oversaw the IGAD Mediation process for South Sudan that culminated with the signing of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) in August 2015.

Bonnie Glick serves as Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development. Ms. Glick was most recently the Deputy Secretary of the Maryland State Department of Aging, where she was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan.

Ciarán Cannon is Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for the Diaspora and International Development. He is a TD representing Galway East. Ciarán is formerly the Minister for Training & Skills at the Department of Education & Skills. He was first elected to Dáil Eireann in February 2011.

His Excellency President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was first elected to the Fourth President of the United Republic of Tanzania on 14 December 2005, and in 2010 he was re-elected for the second term. In his more than 30 years of public service, President Kikwete served in different party, military and government positions.

Hon Ken Ofori-Atta, assumed office as Ghana’s Finance Minister on January 27, 2017. He brings to the Ministry over 30 years’ experience in Ghanaian and international financial sector.