Antony J. Blinken, US Secretary of State, said, “I extend my warmest congratulations to Ambassador Catherine Russell on her appointment by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as the next Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Ambassador Russell has had a long and distinguished career in public service, including as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. Her lifelong passion for public service as well as her strong and compassionate leadership will improve the wellbeing of children through this crucial position.
With this announcement, Ambassador Russell succeeds current UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, herself an extraordinary, visionary leader who has expanded UNICEF’s global impact on child health, learning, and welfare. My sincerest thanks to Ms. Fore for her unyielding commitment to the ideals that fuel UNICEF’s many accomplishments.
The United States looks forward to continuing our close collaboration, support, and lifesaving partnership with UNICEF under the leadership of Ambassador Russell.”
"Ms. Russell brings to the role decades of experience in developing innovative policies that empower underserved communities around the world," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Ambassador Cathy Russell was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. She also sat on the Advisory Board of the Biden-Harris Transition Team and served as Vice Chair of the Biden-Harris Campaign.
Before that, Ambassador Russell was a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. During the Obama-Biden administration, Ambassador Russell served for all eight years at the White House and the U.S. Department of State, including as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden and the U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, where she led efforts to integrate women’s issues into US foreign policy.
Previously, she served as the senior advisor on international women’s issues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, as the Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as Senior Counsel to Senator Patrick J. Leahy.
Ambassador Russell served on multiple boards and advisory committees, including as board co-chair of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, as board member of Women for Women International, as well as a member of the Sesame Street Global Advisory Group, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security Steering Committee, the National Security Action Advisory Council, the Thomson Reuters Trust Women Foundation, and the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.
A native of Pennsylvania, Ambassador Russell graduated from Boston College and the George Washington University Law School.
Russell received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Boston College and a J.D. from George Washington University. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Tom Donilon, and their two children.
Image courtesy - https://iop.harvard.edu/