United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Global Compact in April 2022. For the past two years, Sanda Ojiambo served as the CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanda Ojiambo launched an ambitious new UN Global Compact Strategy to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change.

During her tenure, she has also promoted stronger business engagement with UN partners to deliver and finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Sanda Ojiambo brings to the UN Global Compact more than 20 years’ experience in the public, multilateral and private sectors including as Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Safaricom Plc in Kenya; and capacity development work in CARE International and United Nations Development Programme Somalia. Throughout her career, she has cultivated and managed relationships with key business entities and civil society organizations and led the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives.

Sanda Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 15,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.

Melissa Powell assumed the role of Chief of Staff in 2016. In addition to managing day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives, her responsibilities include strategic planning and board relations. She also leads a team responsible for ensuring the integrity of the initiative.

Additionally, Ms. Powell oversees the strategic relations of the UN Global Compact with Governments as well as partnerships across the United Nations system, including with the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General.

Previously Ms. Powell was Head of Strategy and Partnerships for the UN Global Compact. In this position, she led a range of strategic initiatives including those focused on connecting companies with the United Nations.

Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Powell worked in the Speechwriting Unit of the Executive Office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In this role, she composed messages and articles on behalf of the former UN Secretary-General.

Ms. Powell holds a Master of International Relations from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Political Science with honours from Queen's University in Canada

As Chief of Outreach and Engagement, Sue Allchurch leads the work of the UN Global Compact to engage and work with businesses to take action on the Sustainable Development Goals.

She has been instrumental in developing the UN Global Compact participant engagement model and ensuring that the UN Global Compact translates ideas into practical, valuable initiatives to help business further their sustainability impact.

Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Allchurch was Director of Marketing and Communications for Save the Children United Kingdom. In this role, Ms. Allchurch delivered several successful campaigns and contributed to a doubling of impact and outcome.

Previously, Ms. Allchurch has been Global Brand Vice President Lipton tea and Global Brand Vice President Surf and Skip detergents and Laundry Innovation. In all roles, Ms. Allchurch led sustainable development and social purpose as a core part of brand development, with a key focus on innovation product development and supply chain sustainability.

Prior to these roles, Ms. Allchurch was Global Vice President of the Unilever Marketing Academy, building capabilities across the global marketing community. Ms. Allchurch holds a Bachelor of Science with honors from the University of Exeter.

In his role as Chief, Global Operations, Ole Hansen leads strategy, development and support for the 70+ Global Compact networks around the world, as well as for the Global Compact Cities Programme.

Mr. Hansen joined the UN Global Compact in 2009 where he previously led different projects and programmes on the Sustainable Development Goals, Breakthrough Innovation, Board Adoption, Responsible Investment and Global Compact LEAD.

Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Hansen was an International Business Development consultant based in Denmark, while also acting as the focal point for the Global Compact Nordic Network and the Danish Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab.

Earlier, Mr. Hansen worked as a Senior Advisor on international trade and policy in the Confederation of Danish Industries, as a Political Risk Advisor in Global Mind and as a private sector consultant on environmental and development projects in Central America.

Mr. Hansen holds a Master of Science in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Copenhagen.

In her current capacity as Chief of Programmes, Lila Karbassi oversees the entire work programme of the UN Global Compact on environment, social, governance and finance issues.

Ms. Karbassi has been instrumental in the work of the UN Global Compact on the environment and climate change and has been responsible for the participation of the UN Global Compact in key UN conferences.

In her 13 years at the organization, Ms. Karbassi has lead numerous successful programmes that have driven businesses to engage with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact worldwide.

In 2016, Ms. Karbassi worked in the Office of the Secretary-General to provide support and advice on business engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Karbassi held positions on policy regulation at Sanofi-Aventis.

Ms. Karbassi holds a Master of Business Administration from the Bocconi School of Management. She also holds a Doctorate in Biology from the University of Paris and a Master of Biology from the University of Grenoble.

As Managing Director, Alex Stein oversees the work of the Foundation for the Global Compact across multiple departments. These include finance, operations, strategy, human resources and digital processes.

Mr. Stein has been instrumental in ensuring that the Foundation fulfills its mission to provide financial, operational and programmatic support for the UN Global Compact.

He has over eighteen years of experience in non-profit leadership, having worked in economic and micro-enterprise development, gun violence prevention and international education.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2011, Mr. Stein was the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of PAX: Real Solutions to Gun Violence for six years where he helped raise more than $20 million in support of proven national awareness campaigns like ASK (Asking Saves Kids).

From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Stein was the Vice President of Finance and Administration for ACCION International's regional New York affiliate where he helped the organization grow to become the largest micro-enterprise development organization in the United States.

Mr. Stein holds a Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Whittier College.

As Chief of Intergovernmental Relations & Africa, Olajobi Makinwa leads high-level interactions with Governments to strengthen relations and enhance understanding of the UN Global Compact. She aligns priorities of Governments and regional inter-governmental bodies with key directions of the work of the UN Global Compact. She is also the overall coordinator for the implementation of the UN Global Compact's Africa Strategy 2021-2023, including its flagship programmatic offerings such as the Global Africa Business Initiative and the Africa Business Leaders Coalition.

During her tenure as Chief of Transparency & Anti-Corruption, Ms. Makinwa successfully led the development of numerous UN Global Compact projects on transparency and anti-corruption, notably the Siemens Initiative Project on Collective Action in the fight against corruption.

Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Makinwa was the Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa. Previously, she served as a Legal Officer with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Kenya, and with the UNEP Regional Office for Europe in Switzerland.

Ms. Makinwa has consulted for various UN Agencies as well as the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. She is also a member of the International Bar Association and the American Society of International Law.

Ms. Makinwa holds a law degree with honours (LL.B Hons) and a Master of International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos. She was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Ms. Makinwa completed further postgraduate studies in Business Leadership at the University of South Africa.

In his role as Chief of Communications, Dan Thomas leads corporate communications, media relations and strategic events.

During his time at the UN Global Compact, Mr. Thomas has led the creation of a new communications strategy designed to engage a broader coalition of partners in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Mr. Thomas led communication and external relations for the Presidents of the 70th and 71st Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly.

Previously, Mr. Thomas has headed communications, mobilization and outreach for the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team within the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. In 2014, he led communications for the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit.

A former journalist with Reuters and BBC Television News, Mr. Thomas joined UNICEF as a multimedia producer in 2000. In 2008, he left the UN system to join GAVI, a public-private global health partnership — eventually becoming Acting Director of Communications.

Mr. Thomas holds a holds a Bachelor of Science (Economics) with honours from the University College in Cardiff.