Who's who in #globaldev: August 2022 executive appointments

Simon Stiell, a former environment minister in the government of Grenada, was announced as the new executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Before entering politics, Stiell worked in the technology sector for 14 years. He trained as an engineer and has an MBA from the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom. Here’s a look at other high-level job moves, leadership changes, and executive appointments in global development during August. The U.S. Agency for International Development Monde Muyangwa was confirmed as head of the USAID Africa bureau by the U.S. Senate, almost a year after being nominated by President Joe Biden. Muyangwa, a Zambian native, is currently director of the Africa program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Kristin Treier is starting as chief of party for USAID’s private sector engagement modernization contract with her firm, Dexis Professional Services. Treier, a Devex alumna, has managed a number of USAID contracts. Allyson Bear was promoted to head of Abt Associates’ USAID portfolio. Bear was previously Abt’s regional vice president for West Africa, Middle East, and North Africa. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed 10 people to the seventh advisory group of the U.N. Peacebuilding Fund, including Kjersti Dale of CARE Norway, Macharia Kamau from the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sara Pantuliano, chief executive of the Overseas Development Institute. Aspen Pharma Group’s Stavros Nicolaou was appointed as a founding member of the U.N. Global Compact Africa Business Leaders Coalition. Stefan Liller took up his new position as resident representative at the U.N. Development Programme in Bangladesh. Liller, a Swedish national, previously served as UNDP resident representative in Uruguay. Foundations The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation appointed Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College, and Ashish Dhawan, founder and CEO of the Convergence Foundation, to its board of trustees. Waverley Street Foundation, a newly formed $3 billion climate foundation, has named California’s environmental protection secretary Jared Blumenfeld as its inaugural president. Dr. Khama Rogo, lead health sector specialist at the World Bank, will become chair at the PharmAccess Foundation, an organization working towards better healthcare in Africa. NGOs Angela Bekkers is leaving the World Bank to join the World Resources Institute Europe as head of communications. Charity Navigator named Jeanette Shutay as its chief data technology officer. Shutay was formerly the vice president of data science at Redwood Logistics. The Project on Middle East Democracy named Tess McEnery as executive director. A former White House staffer, McEnery most recently led a team in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor advancing global strategies to defend democracy and counter authoritarianism. MDBs and finance Rodrigo Salvado left the Gates Foundation to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as director general of operational partnerships. Richard Weiner, an American lawyer, was nominated as U.S. director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development by the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Beata Javorcik was reappointed as EBRD chief economist. Ruth Horowitz has started as vice president for Asia and the Pacific at the International Finance Corporation. Horowitz, a U.S. national, has more than 30 years of experience in global financial markets, which includes over 20 years in the private sector and 13 years at IFC. Credit Suisse appointed James Purcell as head of sustainability frameworks, according to press reports. Purcell joins Credit Suisse after serving at Quintet Private Bank as group head of sustainable, thematic, and impact investments. Phyllis Kurlander Costanza, who was CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation for 11 years, announced her new project: She’ll be serving as president and co-founder of OutcomesX, which she describes as “the first marketplace to buy and sell, standardized and verified social outcomes.” Masrura Oishi is now manager of impact measurement and management at the Global Impact Investing Network. She previously worked at the BRAC Social Innovation Lab focusing on technology adaptation in challenging contexts. Government appointments David Walton was appointed as coordinator of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. Nigeria appointed Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, to lead its new 16-member End Malaria Council, which aims to eradicate the disease in the country in the next eight years. Olympia Wereko-Brobby is the new development director at the British High Commission in Malawi. Belen Calvo Uyarra was named as the next EU ambassador to Rwanda.