Who's who in #globaldev: March 2021 executive appointments

The Biden-Harris administration has recently filled some key positions in the U.S. Agency for International Development, while awaiting Senate confirmation of Samantha Power for the agency’s topmost job. United States The latest set of key appointments at USAID include Gideon Maltz as chief of staff, Raj Panjabi as coordinator of the President's Malaria Initiative, and Jeremy Konyndyk as executive director for COVID-19 at the Office of the Administrator. Maltz previously served as deputy chief of staff at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, and senior advisor to the USAID administrator from 2010 to 2012. Before joining USAID in March, he was executive director of the Tent Partnership for Refugees. Panjabi is the co-founder and served as CEO for 14 years at Last Mile Health. Konyndyk was director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance during former President Barack Obama’s time in office, and most recently worked as senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. Adam Philips, a pastor from Portland, Oregon, has also been appointed as the new director of USAID’s faith office. Earlier in March, the administration also announced several key appointments in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including Loyce Pace as director of the Office of Global Affairs, and Cindy Huang as director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Pace previously served as president and executive director of the Global Health Council and was in U.S. President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board. Huang was most recently vice president for strategic outreach at Refugees International. Bush Institute Meanwhile, Deborah Birx has joined the George W. Bush Institute as a senior fellow. Birx served as the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator from 2014 to early 2021, and was coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Response. She also most recently joined as chief medical and scientific adviser of ActivePure Technologies, which markets its air purifier products for COVID-19. Bezos Earth Fund Andrew Steer has joined Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund as its first president and CEO. Under Steer’s leadership, the $10 billion fund will invest in scientists, activists, NGOs, and the private sector “to help drive new technologies, investments, policy change, and behavior” to address climate, nature, and environmental issues. Before joining the fund, Steer led the World Resources Institute for more than eight years. Manish Bapna, WRI’s executive vice president and managing director, will serve as WRI’s president and CEO in the interim. Skoll Foundation Marla Blow, formerly senior vice president for social impact in North America at Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, joins the Skoll Foundation as its new president and chief operating officer — a newly created role. Her job will focus on “shaping the Foundation’s strategy and deepening its impact,” according to a news release. Amnesty International Amnesty International has appointed Agnès Callamard, a leading human rights expert and who worked for the organization from 1995 to 2001, as its new secretary-general. Callamard was most recently U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. Meanwhile Amnesty International US named Paul O’Brien as its new executive director. Prior to that, O’Brien served in several senior positions in Oxfam America, including as vice president. Lego Foundation Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen is leaving Plan International to take over as CEO at the Lego Foundation. She will officially take on the new role in September 2021, succeeding John Goodwin. World Health Organization WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu has appointed Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, as special envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, or ACT-A. The role is meant to mobilize support and financial resources for the work of ACT-A in 2021. Bildt succeeds Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala — now director-general of the World Trade Organization — and Sir Andrew Witty, who was recently named as CEO at the UnitedHealth Group. Africa CDC John Nkengasong is serving his second four-year term as director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. An “overwhelming majority” of the Africa CDC board recommended his reappointment, according to a statement. Inter-American Development Bank Orlando Ferreira is the new chief financial officer of IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank. Ferreira has been serving as interim CFO since October 2019. He was previously at IDB Invest’s chief strategy officer, a position now filled by Alexandre Meira da Rosa, a Brazilian lawyer and economist who served in different senior positions at the IDB since 2010. World Bank The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, meanwhile has appointed Amena Arif as new country manager for East Africa and Malawi. She previously served as IFC country manager for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. United Kingdom Christian Dennys-McClure is the new British High Commissioner to Cameroon and Her Majesty’s non-resident ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. Dennys-McClure used to serve as head of the U.K.’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. Save the Children Belinda Goldsmith, editor-in-chief of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, will soon serve as director of Save the Children’s global media unit. She starts in the role in June 2021. Kevin Watkins, chief executive of Save the Children U.K., has announced he will be leaving the organization. Winrock International Winrock International has two new board members. They include Dr. Ruth Oniang’o, a former member of parliament in Kenya and current board chair of the Sasakawa Africa Association; and John Tyson, who serves as chief sustainability officer of Tyson Foods. Frontline AIDS Professor Nana Poku, vice-chancellor and principal at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is the new chair of the Frontline AIDS board of trustees. Other new trustees joining him are Joan Nyanyuki, executive director at the African Child Policy Forum; Micheal Ighodaro, program manager at the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition; and Purnima Mane, former president and CEO at Pathfinder International. IDinsight IDinsight has appointed Frida Njogu-Ndongwe as its new East Africa regional director. Njogu-Ndongwe previously was director of programs at the Center for Health Solutions-Kenya, and served as CEO and co-founder of Kenyan-based start-up Afyakit Technologies Ltd. United Nations United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed the following individuals in key senior U.N. positions: - Cherith Norman Chalet of the United States as assistant secretary-general for General Assembly and Conference Management. - El-Ghassim Wane of Mauritania as new special representative and head of the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, or MINUSMA. - Jean Arnault of France as personal envoy on Afghanistan and regional Issues. - Major General Ingrid Gjerde of Norway as force commander of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP. - Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh of Chad as new special representative and head of the U.N. Office for West Africa and the Sahel.