Former U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Cousens to Lead United Nations Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer
The United Nations Foundation Board of Directors announced today that former Ambassador Elizabeth Cousens will become its next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2020. Cousens, a distinguished leader and highly-respected champion of sustainable development and multilateral cooperation, has served the Foundation as its Deputy CEO since 2015.
Cousens will succeed current President and CEO Kathy Calvin, who informed the UN Foundation Board of Directors of her intention to retire earlier this year. Under the leadership of Vice Chairs Gro Harlem Brundtland and Senator Timothy E. Wirth, the Board conducted an intensive global search to identify Calvin’s successor.
“Elizabeth was our unanimous and enthusiastic choice, and our confidence in her determination to stand up for the UN and the values of global cooperation is without bounds,” said Ted Turner, Founder and Chairman of the UN Foundation Board of Directors. “We are grateful to Kathy for her many years of leadership at the Foundation, helping shape the organization into a force for partnership and impact. We now look forward to the next generation with Elizabeth at the helm at this moment of heightened peril for our planet and its people. We are thrilled to lock arms with a leader who has been at the forefront of global policymaking and innovation throughout her career...