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

Rajeev Venkayya is leaving Takeda Pharmaceutical Company to become the CEO at a startup focused on addressing COVID-19 and future pandemics. Prior to leading the global vaccine business unit at Takeda, where he helped develop vaccines for dengue, norovirus, and Zika, Venkayya was director of vaccine delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and served on the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Venkayya, who is also on the boards of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, said he will share more details on the startup in the coming weeks. That’s just one example from a range of job moves, leadership changes, and executive appointments in the month of February. United States The U.S. saw some shuffling in its government roles this month. Beth Cameron, who is leaving her post as senior director for global health security in the White House National Security Council, is being replaced by Raj Panjabi, who previously led the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. He is in turn being succeeded by Julie Wallace, who will serve as acting U.S. global malaria coordinator until an appointment is made. At the State Department, John Bass was made chief sustainability officer. George Salem was appointed as the inaugural board chair of the People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Senate also confirmed Scott Nathan as the CEO at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and Reta Jo Lewis as president and board chair at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. United Kingdom CDC Group, the U.K. development finance institution, has appointed four new managing directors as it enters its next five-year strategy period: Amal-Lee Amin, who is also head of climate; Chris Chijiutomi, also head of infrastructure equity for Africa and Pakistan; Yasemin Saltuk Lamy, also head of asset allocation and capital solutions; and Abhinav Sinha, also head of technology and telecoms. CDG Group is also establishing a presence in Ghana with the appointment of Kwabena Asante-Poku as coverage director for the country. The Africa Centre, based in the U.K., appointed six new trustees: Kerryn Greenberg, Julian Boiatey, Audrey Mpunzwana, Ethel Tambudzai, John Mensah, and Gosia Brzezinska. Africa Senegalese President Macky Sall took over as chairperson of the African Union during the annual AU meetings. The Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation, a development finance company, opened its first regional office in East Africa, with Johanna Raehalme at the helm. Medsaf, a Nigeria-based company focused on pharmaceutical procurement in Africa, made three new appointments to its management team: João Pinheiro as chief technology officer, Obinna Ajeroh as business development director, and Kenny Oriola as head of operations. United Nations Catherine Russell has taken office as executive director at UNICEF. Mahmoud Mohieldin was appointed as Egypt’s “High-Level Climate Action Champion” for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, set to be hosted by Egypt in November. The former Egyptian investment minister is also the U.N. special envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an executive director at the International Monetary Fund. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres named Hanna Tetteh as his special envoy for the Horn of Africa. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, who was formerly in this role, is taking on the roles of special representative to the African Union and head of the U.N. Office to the African Union. Philanthropy Ladé Araba has joined the AlphaMundi Foundation, which focuses on impact investing with a gender lens, as executive director. She was formerly managing director for Africa at Convergence. The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation elected Cynthia Cardona as president. Maura Pally is joining the Blackstone Charitable Foundation as executive director. Amy Enright left the Gates Foundation and is working as an independent consultant. Marcus McGrew joined the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as director of grant-making, learning, and operations. Clare Woodcraft joined the board of WINGS, while David Lindberg stepped down. GivingTuesday announced the launch of two new hubs: one in India, to be staffed by Priyanka Dutt and Kavita Mathew, and the other in Africa, with Catherine Mwendwa as director. Nasra Ismail also joins as senior director of global strategy and operation. NGOs Opportunity International welcomed Michael Chitwood as chief philanthropy officer. He was previously the executive director of church and ministry partnerships at World Vision in the U.S. Save the Children International announced the appointment of four new members to its board: Teresa Mbagaya, Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani, Deepak Kapoor, and Larry Kamener. Meanwhile, political reporter Kate Proctor will be joining Save the Children UK as U.K. news lead. Jorge Elguera has been named executive vice president and chief information officer at RTI International. International Committee of the Red Cross appointed six new directors: Martin Schüepp as director of operations; Sarah Epprecht-Noetzli as director of protection and essential services; Nils Melzer as director of international law, policy, and humanitarian diplomacy; Olivier Ray as director of mobilization, movement, and partnerships; Valérie Abrell-Duong as director of support and digital transformation; and Claire Hoang Sperandio as director of people and culture. Refugees International President Eric Schwartz announced his departure from the organization, effective at the end of August. International advocacy organization Global Citizen has promoted Liza Henshaw from chief operating officer to president. Stephen Omollo has begun his new role as CEO at Plan International, an organization focused on advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. And the board of directors at Plan International USA has appointed Mustafa Kudrati as chief executive officer, effective April 1. Technology Nick Clegg has been promoted to a senior role at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. The former U.K. deputy prime minister, who joined the tech giant in 2018 to lead its global affairs and communications team, now serves as president of global affairs. Sheila Warren has left the World Economic Forum to join the Crypto Council for Innovation. Climate Ashden, a U.K.-based charity focused on climate solutions,​ appointed Jane Muigai Kamphuis and Rebekah Shirley to its board of trustees. Cecilia Martinez has joined the Bezos Earth Fund as principal adviser for resilience and communities. It’s one of a number of senior hires that the organization has announced as it grows its team this year. Global health The Task Force for Global Health announced that CEO and President Dave Ross will retire this year. Merck, the pharmaceutical company, appointed Arpa Garay as head of human health global marketing and Deepak Khanna as interim head of human health international. Shunsuke Mabuchi is joining the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as head of resilient and sustainable systems for health.