Our Leadership

The UN Foundation is led day-to-day by former Senator Timothy E. Wirth and an innovative and experienced team. Our senior leadership includes:

 

	Timothy E. Wirth President, United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund Timothy Wirth is the President of the United Nations 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 »
	Kathy Calvin Chief Executive Officer Kathy Calvin is the Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation. The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation advocates for the UN and connects people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. View Full Bio »
	Richard S. Parnell Chief Operating Officer Rick serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. Rick oversees all aspects of the Foundation's operations including Finance, Grants, Budget, HR, Operations, and Board Liaison. In addition, he supervises all Foundation staff, ensures the efficient and effective allocation of resources across departments, and, along with the President, Executive Vice President, and Senior Vice President for Public Affairs, forms the Strategic Planning Committee, which is responsible for creating and directing the UN Foundation's core mission and activities. View Full Bio »
	Reid Detchon Vice President for Energy and Climate Reid Detchon is the Vice President for Energy and Climate at the United Nations Foundation. He is also the Executive Director of the Energy Future Coalition, a broad-based non-partisan public policy initiative supported by the UN Foundation that seeks to bring about change in U.S. energy policy. View Full Bio »
	Peter Yeo Vice President for Public Policy Peter Yeo joined the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Campaign in February 2009 with over twenty years of legislative, analytical, and management experience, including senior roles on Capitol Hill and in the State Department. View Full Bio »
	Susan Myers Vice President, UN Relations Susan Myers is the UN Foundation's Vice President for UN relations. Ms. Myers has served as Executive Director of the New York office of the United Nations Foundation since 2000. As a member of the Foundation's leadership team, she provides overall guidance and participates in the development of long-term strategy for the organization. View Full Bio »
	Elizabeth (McKee) Gore Vice President, Global Partnerships Elizabeth Gore is the Vice President of Global Partnerships for the United Nations Foundation, currently managing partnership and cause marketing strategies implemented in programs and campaigns of the United Nations. View Full Bio »
	Aaron Sherinian Vice President, Communications & Public Relations Aaron Sherinian is Vice President for Communications and Public Relations for the UN Foundation. He leads the Foundation's public relations efforts, media relationships, strategic outreach, and online presence. View Full Bio »

Back to top

SENIOR STAFF

 

	Andrew Axelrod Executive Director, Planning and Learning Andrew Axelrod serves as the Executive Director of Planning and Learning at the UN Foundation, where he leads the Foundation's strategic planning and performance management functions. View Full Bio »
	Leslie Cordes Senior Director, Partnership Development Leslie Black Cordes is Senior Director, Partnership Development for the Foundation where she is responsible for developing new relationships with the philanthropic, international donors, and private sector communities. She previously held positions with the Environmental Protection Agency, the non-profit Alliance to Save Energy, the US Agency for International Development, and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. View Full Bio »
	Mohamed T. El-Ashry Senior Fellow Mohamed T. El-Ashry is Senior Fellow with the UN Foundation and Facilitator of the Global Leadership for Climate Action (GLCA) which he organized in 2007. Its membership includes 13 former Presidents and Prime-Ministers and 12 other global leaders. View Full Bio »
	Melinda L. Kimble Senior Vice President Melinda Kimble is a Senior Vice President, overseeing our International Bioenergy Initiative. She joined the UN Foundation in May 2000. View Full Bio »
	Shamir Shahi Deputy Chief of Staff and Board Liason Shamir is the Deputy Chief of Staff and Board Liason for the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. In this capacity, he works closely with the Chief Operating Officer for effective management of the Foundation's operations. He directs the Board of Directors liaison activities. He also provides leadership for the Foundation's Small grants program and management of Intersessional grants. Shamir also coordinates strategic planning for Partnership Development, Public Affairs, Executive, and Finance teams. View Full Bio »
	Gillian Sorensen Senior Advisor and National Advocate Gillian Martin Sorensen, Senior Advisor at the United Nations Foundation is a national advocate on matters related to the United Nations and the United States-United Nations relationship, addressing audiences as diverse as Rotary International and the Air Force Academy; university students; staff and Members of Congress; journalists and leaders of civil society. View Full Bio »

Back to top

CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES

 

	Kate Dodson Managing Director, Global Health Kate Dodson is the managing director of global health at the United Nations Foundation. In this role, Ms. Dodson is responsible for ensuring that UNF’s advocacy, partnership, campaign, and program work for global health is coordinated, effective, and efficient. View Full Bio »
	Andrea Gay Executive Director of Children's Health Andrea Gay is the Executive Director of Children's Health at the United Nations Foundation, where she oversees projects to improve the survival and health of children in developing countries, particularly those under five years of age. She joined the UN Foundation when it was created in 1998. View Full Bio »
	Christopher Helfrich Director, Nothing But Nets Christopher Helfrich is the Director of the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets, a global, grassroots campaign to raise awareness and funding to fight malaria, a leading cause of death among children in Africa. View Full Bio »
	Patrick Madden Executive Director, UNA-USA Patrick Madden was named Executive Director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America in February 2011. View Full Bio »
	Radha Muthiah Executive Director, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Radha Muthiah is Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, where she leads efforts to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. View Full Bio »
	Gina Reiss-Wilchins Director, Girl Up Gina Reiss-Wilchins is Director of the Girl Up campaign — an innovative program to build and maintain a constituency dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s hardest-to-reach girls. The “for girls, by girls” campaign mobilizes American girls to raise funds and awareness for UN programs that support the millions of adolescent girls growing up in developing countries. View Full Bio »
	Kevin Starace Executive Director, Global Health Innovation Kevin Starace, Executive Director, Global Health Innovation, specializes in private sector partnerships, global health policy and strategy and development finance at the United Nations Foundation. View Full Bio »
	Devi Ramachandran Thomas Director, Shot@Life Devi Ramachandran Thomas joined the UN Foundation in May 2011 as Director of Shot@Life, to manage the campaign and oversee the daily programmatic, communications, marketing, and fundraising needs of the campaign. View Full Bio »
	Richenda Van Leeuwen Senior Director, Climate & Energy Richenda Van Leeuwen is Senior Director of the Energy and Climate team overseeing the UN Foundation's work on energy access. She joined the UN Foundation in 2010 from Good Energies, a global renewable energy investment company. A sought out speaker on energy access and poverty issues, she has over 20 years of executive management experience with the UN, private sector and non-profits on several continents. View Full Bio »
	Adele Waugaman Senior Director, Technology Partnerships Adele Waugaman leads the $30M partnership between the United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation that invests in the use of mobile technologies to advance UN health and disaster relief programs. View Full Bio »
	Peg Willingham Executive Director, Shot@Life Campaign Peg Willingham joined the United Nations Foundation in January 2011 to lead Shot@Life, a new campaign to raise awareness and resources in the U.S. to support the work of the UN and other prominent partners to immunize children in developing countries against vaccine preventable diseases. View Full Bio »

Back to top

FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

 

	Walter Cortés Chief Financial Officer Walter Cortés serves as Chief Financial Officer of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. In this role, Mr. Cortés manages the accounting operations and staff of the Foundation. View Full Bio »
	David Burton Executive Director, Business Services, Budgets, and Reporting David Burton serves as the Executive Director of Business Services, Budgets, and Reporting for the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund. In this capacity, he directs and manages the overall BSBR team and its functions, prepares and analyzes UNF’s budgets and management reports, reviews and controls all financial and contractual agreements, and provides strategic support and tracking for all proposals and donor reporting. View Full Bio »
	Maxine Griffin Somerville Senior Director, Administration and Human Resources Maxine Griffin Somerville serves as the executive director of administration and human resources of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. In her role, she manages the daily operations of the organization and oversees the human resources function. View Full Bio »

Back to top