Who's who in #globaldev: February 2020 appointments

US Agency for International Development Shawn K. Baker is USAID’s first chief nutritionist. He joins USAID after serving as the first director of nutrition at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Baker comes to the job midway through the implementation of USAID’s 2014-2025 Multi-sector Nutrition Strategy, and as the agency gears up for the establishment of a Center for Nutrition, which Baker said will provide technical expertise and guidance on the subject. He previously served as chair of the SUN Movement Executive Committee and on the board of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. US International Development Finance Corporation DFC, which officially began operations in January, has announced its first chief development officer: Andrew Herscowitz, who previously served in different positions as part of U.S. government aid efforts. Herscowitz was coordinator of the U.S. government’s Power Africa initiative, launched under the leadership of former U.S. President Barack Obama. He also served as USAID mission director for several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. In his new role, Herscowitz “will provide leadership on the agency’s development policies and coordinate interagency partnerships in support of the U.S. government’s broader international development policy,” according to a news release. United Nations U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed a number of officials to key U.N. roles in February. These include: - Mahmoud Mohieldin of Egypt as special envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda. - Selwin Hart of Barbados as special adviser and assistant secretary-general of the Climate Action Team. - Sen Pang of China as U.N. resident coordinator in Namibia. - Ingrid Macdonald of Australia as U.N. resident coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina. - Sezin Sinanoglu of Turkey as the U.N. resident coordinator in Tajikistan. World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization PAHO, which serves as the regional office of WHO for the Americas, has a new deputy director: Mary Lou Valdez, previously with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Office of Global Health Affairs in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Valdez’s portfolio at PAHO includes serving as secretary to the organization’s different governing bodies; member of the organization’s executive management; providing oversight with the organization’s official relations with the governments of Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States, as well as the independent offices of ethics, the ombudsman, and investigations. She’s also in charge of providing supervision to the departments of planning and budget, external relations, partnerships, resource mobilization, and communications, and PAHO’s teams in charge of publication and languages. At WHO’s headquarters meanwhile, Dr. Bente Mikkelsen will start as the new director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promoting Health through the life-course starting March 9. Mikkelsen was previously head of the secretariat for the global coordination mechanism on the prevention and control of NCDs at WHO. European Investment Bank Teresa Czerwińska of Poland is EIB’s new vice-president. Prior, she was a member of the board of the National Bank of Poland, and served as Poland’s minister of finance as well as undersecretary of state responsible for the state budget under the finance ministry. Pact Caroline Anstey will be the new president and CEO of international nonprofit Pact. She starts her new role on March 23. Anstey has worked as senior adviser to several high-profile organizations in development, including the World Economic Forum, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Results for Development Institute. She also spent nearly two decades at the World Bank, according to a news release. IntraHealth International IntraHealth International’s new president and CEO, Polly Dunford, is coming on board March 16. She will succeed outgoing president and CEO Pape Gaye, who has led the organization since 2004. For close to two decades, Dunford served as USAID mission director to a number of countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. She also managed a diverse set of U.S. global health portfolios, and most recently served as director of USAID’s office of HIV and AIDS. Rainforest Action Network Ginger Cassady is the new executive director of the Rainforest Action Network. Prior to the appointment, Cassady was program director at the organization, and has led numerous campaigns, including fighting deforestation in Indonesia. She’s been with the network since 2010. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has Patricia McIlreavy as its new president and CEO. She succeeds Robert Ottenhoff, the organization’s first chief executive. McIlreavy previously served as vice president of humanitarian policy and practice at InterAction. Prior, she worked with different humanitarian organizations and U.N. agencies, as well as with USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. Global Steering Group for Impact Investment Cliff Prior will be the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment’s new CEO. He starts in his new role in May 2020, succeeding Amit Bhatia. Currently, Prior is CEO of Big Society Capital, a financial institution focused on social impact investment in the U.K.; and board member of the Impact Investing Institute, the International Venture Philanthropy Centre, and Acumen Academy UK. He was former CEO of UnLtd, a UK foundation for social entrepreneurs; and CEO of U.K. charity Rethink. Chemonics Chris Scott is Chemonics International’s new executive vice president. His role involves overseeing Chemonics’ global health and supply chain portfolio. Scott was previously senior vice president at the international development consulting firm. CDC Group The CDC Group, the U.K. development finance institution, has appointed Amal-Lee Amin as its climate change director. The move comes ahead of the launch of the institution’s new climate change strategy, scheduled for late 2020, according to a news release. Amin previously led the climate change division at the Inter-American Development Bank, and spent a decade working on sustainable energy and climate change policy within the U.K. government. Facebook Zvika Krieger, who helped launch and build the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, joins Facebook as its director of responsible innovation. In a tweet following the appointment, Krieger said: “Send me any great people who can help develop tools to better predict product risks, dive deep w/ product teams, engage diverse external stakeholders & marginalized communities, & deepen our culture of professional responsibility -- particularly folks from diverse backgrounds!” European Commission Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission, has announced three senior appointments at the European External Action Service: - Enrique Mora Benavente as deputy secretary-general for political affairs. - Stefano Sannino as deputy secretary-general for economic and global issues. - Charles Fries as deputy secretary-general for common security and defense policy — or CSDP — and crisis response. GiveWell U.S. charity evaluator GiveWell will have Neil Buddy Shah as its new managing director. He is expected to officially take on the role in July of this year. Shah is currently CEO of IDinsight, a global advisory, data analytics, and research organization focused on international development programs. Before IDinsight, Shah worked in the World Bank’s governance and public sector reform unit and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, according to a news release.