Our Board

We are governed by a small and cohesive Board of Directors who share a commitment to the goals and objectives of the United Nations Charter and the UN’s work on behalf of economic, social, environmental and humanitarian causes.

R. E. Turner (U.S.A.)

Chairman, Turner Enterprises
Ted Turner is the Founder and Chairman of UN Foundation as well as Turner Enterprises, Inc. and former Vice Chairman of Time Warner Inc., the world's leading media company. He is the founder of CNN, an environmentalist, and a philanthropist. Turner created the UN Foundation in 1998 with his historic gift in support of the United Nations. He has said that his gift is an "investment in the future of humanity."

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Kathy Calvin

President and Chief Executive Officer
Kathy Calvin is President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation. Her career has spanned work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She is a passionate advocate for multi-sector problem-solving, U.S. leadership on global issues, and the inclusion of women at all levels and in all sectors.

	Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah (Jordan) Chair, Jordan River Foundation Her Majesty channels her energies behind initiatives that aim to improve the livelihood of various sectors of society in Jordan and beyond. Her activities encompass issues such as education, health, youth, and the environment, among others. View Full Bio »

	Kofi Annan (Ghana) Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Kofi A. Annan of Ghana, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, served from 1997 to 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff. One of Mr. Annan's main priorities as Secretary-General was a comprehensive program of reform aimed at revitalizing the United Nations and making the international system more effective. View Full Bio »

	Fábio Colletti Barbosa (Brazil) CEO, Abril Group Fábio C. Barbosa currently serves as CEO of the Abril Group, one of Latin America’s largest and most influential communications and media enterprises. Previously, Mr. Barbosa served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Banco Santander Brasil and President of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (FEBRABAN). Mr. Barbosa has also served as President of ABN Amro and Banco Real. He has been recognized as the 2010 Leader of Social Change by the Foundation for Social Change in partnership with the UN, and the 2011 Person of the Year by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce. View Full Bio »

	Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway) Vice Chair, Former Prime Minister of Norway, Director-General Emeritus, World Health Organization A medical doctor and Master of Public Health (MPH), Gro Harlem Brundtland spent 10 years as a physician and scientist in the Norwegian public health system. For more than 20 years she was in public office, 10 of them as Prime Minister. In the 1980s she gained international recognition, championing the principle of sustainable development as the chair of the World Commission of Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). View Full Bio »

	Igor Ivanov (Russia) Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Igor S. Ivanov is a Professor at Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Previously, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 1998 to 2004, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, from 2004 to 2007. Minister Ivanov holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. View Full Bio »

	Yuan Ming (China) Director, Institute of International Relations, Peking University Professor Yuan Ming was originally trained as a student of western language and literature at Peking University. Since 1995, she has conducted research at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia; the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. She is a frequent traveler and speaker at many international gatherings such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Trilateral Commission and the Club of Rome. View Full Bio »

	N. R. Narayana Murthy (India) Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Limited N.R. Narayana Murthy is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Limited. Before assuming his current position, he served as CEO of Infosys for twenty years. Mr. Murthy is the chairman of the governing body of both the Indian Institute of Information Technology and the Indian Institute of Management. He has led the corporate governance initiatives in India. He serves on numerous boards of organizations in the U.S. and in several Asian nations. View Full Bio »

	Hisashi Owada (Japan) President, International Court of Justice In addition to his position at the International Court of Justice, Hisashi Owada is also an advisor to the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank. Mr. Owada has served in various posts in the foreign service of Japan, spending a large part of his career on legal as well as United Nations affairs, on the United States, and on the Soviet Union. View Full Bio »

	Emma Rothschild (U.K.) Jeremy and Jane Knowles Professor of History, Harvard University In addition to her position at Harvard University, Emma Rothschild has been a member of the United Kingdom government's Council for Science and Technology, and of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. From 1999 to 2005 she was chairman of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. View Full Bio »

	Nafis Sadik (Pakistan) Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General In 1987, Dr. Sadik was appointed Executive Director of UNFPA, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General, becoming one of the highest ranking women in the UN system and the first woman in the history of the United Nations to lead one of its major voluntarily-funded programmes. View Full Bio »

	Timothy E. Wirth (U.S.A.) Vice Chair Timothy Wirth is the Vice Chair of the United Nations Foundation’s Board of Directors. Prior to taking this role, Wirth served for 15 years as the founding President of the UN Foundation and the Better World Fund. Both organizations were founded in 1998 through a major financial commitment from Ted Turner to support and strengthen the work of the United Nations. View Full Bio »

	Andrew Young (U.S.A.) Chairman, Good Works International Ambassador Andrew Young is an ordained minister, international businessman, human rights activist, published author, and former public servant. He was a top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was elected to three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia. He has been a U.S. Ambassador to the UN and served two terms as Mayor of Atlanta. View Full Bio »

	Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh) Founder, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Movement and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, is responsible for many innovative programs benefiting the rural poor. He attended Vanderbilt University on a Fulbright Scholarship and received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1969. He taught briefly in the US before returning to Bangladesh, where he joined the Economics Department at Chittagong University. View Full Bio »

EMERITUS

Graça Machel (Mozambique)

Chair, Foundation for Community Development
Graça Machel was Mozambique's Minister for Education until 1989 and the chairperson of the National Organization of Children of Mozambique, an organization that places orphans in village homes. She has worked closely with families in her efforts to rehabilitate children, has acted to empower Mozambican women, and has been a major force on behalf of worldwide literacy.

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Staff Liaison

Shamir Shahi

Executive Director for Board Relations
Shamir is the Executive Director for Board Relations for the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. In this capacity, he provides strategic leadership on Board engagement to the Foundation. As such, he collaborates with UN agencies, civil society, and corporate sector leaders to development comprehensive Board engagement plans. Shamir also works closely with the UN Foundation Board on the execution of Foundation priorities.

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UN Foundation Good Governance Policies (Download PDF)

Media Contact

Aaron Sherinian
(202) 887-9040
press@unfoundation.org

Darley Tom
(202) 496-6384
dtom@unfoundation.org

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