Kathy Calvin
Board member, UN Foundation
Kathy Calvin is a UN Foundation Board member whose career has spanned work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. From 1976 through 1984, she served as Senator Gary Hart’s press secretary for both his Senate office and 1984 Presidential campaign – making her one of the first women to hold that title in American politics. She then served for 12 years as Director of Editorial Administration for U.S. News & World Report and later as Senior Managing Director at Hill and Knowlton, a global public relations company. In 1997, Kathy then went on to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of America Online and later as President of the AOL Time Warner Foundation where she guided AOL Time Warner’s philanthropic activities and corporate responsibility initiatives. She joined the UN Foundation in 2003, first serving as Chief Operating Officer, then CEO, and then President and CEO starting in 2013. Kathy retired as President and CEO in December 2019.
Throughout her career, Kathy has taken an active role in a range of philanthropic activities, including serving on the B Team and Elders Advisory Council as well as the boards of the International Women’s Media Foundation, City Year, Internews, the Newseum, Share Our Strength, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, and the East-West Center. She is a passionate advocate for multi-sector problem-solving, U.S. leadership on global issues, and the inclusion of women at all levels and in all sectors.
When the world’s nations adopted the SDGs in 2015, it was well understood that the only way to achieve them universally by 2030 was with ambition and commitment to transparency in driving results. WBA was the right response with a vision of free and publicly available data and an alliance of leadership from all sectors to break down silos of action and accountability. I am proud to be an Ambassador to help drive this urgent mission, and I urge others to learn how they too can promote data for delivery.