Elizabeth Cousens

Elizabeth M. Cousens is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation, a position she assumed in January 2020. She leads the Foundation’s latest initiatives to support the United Nations.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Cousens has been instrumental in global policymaking and innovation. Her experience as a diplomat, thought leader, and manager of international research institutions represents a deep engagement with peace processes, United Nations policy innovations, and public-private partnerships to address large-scale global challenges.

Before her appointment to the United Nations Foundation, Cousens dedicated several years to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. In her tenure, she was the Principal Policy Advisor and Counselor to the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. Furthermore, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council and as an Alternate Representative to the UN General Assembly. In these roles, she led U.S. negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), served on the boards of various UN agencies, funds, and programs, and represented the U.S. in the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

Cousens has also contributed to the United Nations efforts on the ground, with assignments in the Middle East, Nepal, Bosnia, and Haiti. Apart from fieldwork, she has held leadership positions in non-profit organizations. These include the HD Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, where she served as the Director of Strategy; the International Peace Institute, where she was Vice President and led global crisis management and UN reform initiatives; and the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, where she provided country and regional expertise to the UN on conflict and crisis situations.

Before becoming President and CEO, Cousens served as Deputy CEO of the United Nations Foundation for four years, where she supervised the Foundation’s policy, advocacy, and communications work. This role further solidified her extensive background in international diplomacy and policy-making.

Cousens received her B.A. in history from the University of Puget Sound and a D.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She is an established author with numerous works on peacebuilding, international relations, conflict management, peace processes, state-building, and the United Nations.