Who's who in global development: April 2015 executive appointments

As April drew to a close, U.S. President Barack Obama made a big announcement: He finally nominated Rajiv Shah’s successor at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Gayle Smith is a White House insider, being the special assistant to the president and senior director of the National Security Council. So it was barely a surprise that she was among the names floated earlier on to eventually lead the world’s largest bilateral donor agency through the remaining period of the Obama administration. Much like USAID, CARE USA is awaiting the arrival of its new leader. Michelle Nunn, a former U.S. Senate candidate, is succeeding Helene Gayle, who has led the international nongovernmental organization since 2006. Before joining the political fray, Nunn was more known as the driving force behind the merger between Hands on Atlanta and Points of Light, which has created one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to volunteer service. Nunn will start her tenure as CARE USA president and CEO on July 1. Gayle, meanwhile, will head to McKinsey Social Initiative, a new nonprofit arm of global consulting giant McKinsey & Co., to become its inaugural CEO. Below are other major appointments in April across the international development community. AECOM Carlos Pone was appointed chief executive for Africa at AECOM and will start in his new role in August. He is currently the country managing director for the United Arab Emirates at power and automation technologies giant ABB, and previously served as ABB’s CEO for southern Africa and regional manager for sub-Saharan Africa. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Emilio Emini will be the director of HIV under the global health program of the Gates Foundation starting July 6. Currently, he is the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of vaccine research at Pfizer Inc. as well as a senior adviser to the foundation’s HIV team. Emini was previously senior vice president and head of vaccine development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Steven Rice will take the helm of the foundation’s human resources department starting July 6. Prior to joining the organization, he was executive vice president of human resources at Juniper Networks and chair of the Juniper Networks Foundation Fund. He has also served as vice president of human resources and global operations at Hewlett-Packard Co. Crown Agents Marie Staunton is set to become the first female chair of the board at Crown Agents. She will start her term in July, succeeding Paul Batchelor, who is retiring after serving eight years as chairman. Staunton is a former chief executive of Plan U.K. Ford Foundation Kristen Jarvis joined the Ford Foundation as chief of staff for its president, Darren Walker. Until her most recent appointment, she was known as U.S. first lady Michelle Obama’s special assistant since 2008. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Norbert Hauser and Aida Kurtovic began their two-year tenures as chair and vice chair of the Global Fund board on April 1. Hauser is a former member of parliament and an international auditor from Germany and was interim inspector general at the Global Fund from 2012 to 2013. Kurtovic, the executive director of Sarajevo’s Partnerships in Health, has served on the fund’s country coordinating mechanism in Bosnia-Herzegovina and was a Global Fund board member from 2012 to 2014. International HIV/AIDS Alliance Martin Dinham replaced Steven Sinding as the chair of the alliance’s board of trustees. The retired director-general at the U.K. Department for International Development has served as chair of the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. International Institute for Communication and Development Suzanne van der Velden started her work as managing director of IICD on April 1. Prior to her appointment, van der Velden was IICD’s community relations director responsible for international partnerships, program development and impact management. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Stephen Mugo is the new Africa regional representative and Kenya country representative of CIMMYT. He’s been with CIMMYT for 17 years, including as leader of the Water-efficient Maize for Africa Project. Oxfam International Juan Alberto Fuentes succeeded Joris Voorhoeve as chair of Oxfam International. Fuentes is a former Guatemalan finance minister and holds an international economics professorship at the country’s Universidad Rafael Landivar. STOPAIDS Mike Podmore is replacing Ben Simms as director of STOPAIDS. He will begin his tenure July 13. Podmore is currently policy manager at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. United Nations Elliott Harris now heads the U.N. Environment Program’s New York office. With the rank of new assistant secretary-general, the Trinidad and Tobago native has more than two decades of experience in international economics and development policy analysis, including working at the African and fiscal affairs departments of the International Monetary Fund. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed took over the role of U.N. special envoy for Yemen from Jamal Benomar who stepped down from the position. Before his new role, he was the secretary-general's special representative and head of the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. He has also served as U.N. resident coordinator, humanitarian coordinator and U.N. Development Program resident representative in Libya, Syria and Yemen. Peter Jan Graaff is Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s successor on an acting basis at UNMEER. The Dutch oversaw the Ebola crisis response in Liberia and has worked with the World Health Organization in several African countries, Afghanistan and Haiti, and has led the civil affairs and development team for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Philippe Lazzarini was named deputy special coordinator for Lebanon, succeeding Ross Mountain. Prior to his new role, he was the deputy special representative, resident and humanitarian coordinator in Somalia. The Swiss has also been involved in humanitarian assistance work in Angola, Iraq and the Palestinian territories. U.S. Agency for International Development Barbara O. Schneeman becomes the first higher education coordinator of USAID for the Obama administration. She is professor emeritus and was dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and associate vice provost for university outreach and international affairs at the University of California, Davis. She also was director of the nutrition, labeling and dietary supplements at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2004 and 2013. World Vision U.K. Tim Pilkington is officially chief executive of World Vision U.K., after serving on an acting basis since January. He joined the NGO in January 2013 as director of finance and risk and company secretary. Know any leadership changes at global development organizations? Let us know through the comment section below or email news@devex.com. Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.