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.

Lila Karbassi’s work supports the UN agenda to deliver a resilient net-zero future and drive business ambition towards achieving the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Currently serving as the Chair of the Executive Board of the Science-based Target Initiative (SBTi), she acts as a liaison between the SBTi and the UN Global Compact.

Ms. Karbassi has been instrumental to the work of the UN Global Compact since 2005 and led numerous successful programmes to position leading businesses on the UN agenda. Between 2017 and 2022, she served as the Chief of Programmes overseeing the initiative’s work on human rights, labour rights, the environment, anti-corruption, reporting and finance.

In 2016, Ms. Karbassi was seconded to the Office of the UN Secretary-General, supporting business engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Prior to joining the UN, Ms. Karbassi held various senior positions on policy regulation at Sanofi-Aventis in France.

Ms. Karbassi holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Bocconi School of Management, Italy. She also holds Master's and Doctorate degrees in Biology from the Universities of Grenoble and Paris, France. Ms. Karbassi is a French and Iranian national.

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.

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 Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the University of Wales, Cardiff and a Master of Arts from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Tolulope Lewis Tamoka assumed the position of Chief of Intergovernmental Affairs and Africa (IGAA) at the UN Global Compact in New York in July 2023. As the leader of the IGAA team, Ms. Lewis Tamoka oversees intergovernmental affairs and relationships, coordinating the organization's implementation of the UN Global Compact Africa Strategy. She also provides strategic guidance for the overall strategies of the UN Global Compact on Africa, with a focus on intergovernmental relations and engagement with Member States of the Group of 77 and China.

Ms. Lewis Tamoka has more than two decades of experience in private sector engagement, policy and programme management, financial partnerships, development coordination, intergovernmental relations, gender equality and women's rights. 

Before joining the UN Global Compact, she held distinguished leadership roles within the United Nations system. She served as Senior Regional Coordination Officer for the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to that, she served as the Gender Advisor to the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Ghana and worked as Africa Regional Programme Specialist for UN Women in New York. Ms. Lewis Tamoka also managed the DCO post-conflict and prevention portfolio and contributed her expertise to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the UN Development Programme in Ghana and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Nigeria.

A national of Nigeria, Ms. Lewis Tamoka is a lawyer and an International Fellow at the Human Rights Institute of Columbia University in New York. She holds an LLM in Law and MSc in Development Management from the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

Tonilyn P. Lim assumed the role of Chief of Programmes at the UN Global Compact Office in New York in July 2023. She leads and directs the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and policy development along the substantive areas of environmental, economic and social development.

Ms. Lim brings over 20 years of experience in project and programme management with relevance to business and sustainable development at both national and international levels.

Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Lim held leadership positions at the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a Representative and Head of the Regional Office in China, and Country Representative in the Philippines, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of the UNIDO Country Programme for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development for respective countries of coverage. She also served as a project manager at the UNIDO Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, addressing energy, climate change and environmental management, and was instrumental in developing UNIDO’s initial technical cooperation strategy under the Sustainable Cities programme of the Global Environment Facility. To support the recovery of micro and small enterprises from the pandemic, Ms. Lim took on the role of Chief Technical Adviser at the International Labour Organization (ILO) Manila Office for a project promoting occupational safety and health and digital transformation. Before joining the UN, Ms. Lim was in government service, notably as Chief of the Environmental Safety Group of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, looking after the corporate sustainability of foreign direct investments, and as Crisis Management Officer of the Central Bank of the Philippines, facilitating business continuity and disaster preparedness.

Ms. Lim holds a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Ateneo De Manila University and the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines. She also took up graduate studies on renewable energy from the Technical University of Vienna.