Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya was appointed CEO & Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June 2020.
As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. 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.
Ms. 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.
Ms. 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.
Launched in July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General created as a call to action to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Its 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 13,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 70 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.