Board
The Generation Unlimited Board is the partnership’s primary decision making body. It approves annual strategic priorities and budget, and oversees the GenU Trust Fund, among other functions
Mr. Alan Jope (Chair)
Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
Joining Unilever in the UK in 1985, Mr. Alan Jope subsequently worked in North America for 14 years and in Asia for 13 years. From 2009 Alan led Unilever's business in China and North Asia, doubling its size and laying important foundations for future success. He was appointed to Unilever’s Leadership Executive in 2011 in his role as President of Unilever’s businesses across North Asia. His previous senior roles have also included President Russia, Africa & Middle East; global category leader for several of Unilever's Foods businesses; and President of Unilever's Home & Personal Care business in North America. Earlier, Alan worked in a number of sales and marketing roles in the UK, Thailand, and the US.
Ms. Catherine M. Russell (Co-Chair)
Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Catherine M. Russell became UNICEF’s eighth Executive Director on February 1, 2022. Ms. Russell brings to the role decades of experience in developing innovative policy that empowers underserved communities, girls, and women around the world, including in humanitarian crises. She has extensive experience building, elevating and managing diverse workforces and mobilizing resources and political support for a broad range of initiatives. From 2020 to 2022, Ms. Russell served in the US government as Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. From 2013 to 2017, she served as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State, where she integrated women’s issues across all elements of U.S. foreign policy, represented the United States in more than 45 countries, and worked with foreign governments, multilateral organizations and civil society. She was the principal architect of the ground-breaking “U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls.” Previously, Ms. Russell served as Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House under President Barack Obama, Senior Advisor on International Women’s Issues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, and Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before re-entering government service in 2020, she taught at the Harvard Kennedy School as an Institute of Politics Fellow. She also served as the board co-chair of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, as a board member of Women for Women International, as a member of the Sesame Street Advisory Board, as a member of the non-profit organization, KIVA Advisory Council, and as a member of the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Trust Women initiative. Ms. Russell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, magna cum laude, from Boston College and a Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School.
Dr. Tariq Al Gurg
Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Cares
Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares in 2009, Mr. Tariq Al Gurg and has since been responsible for strategically defining and leading the UAE-based global philanthropic organization working towards providing children in developing countries with access to quality education. Dr. Al Gurg has been the driving force behind Dubai Cares’ involvement in global development efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and has allowed the organization to play a more effective role as an advocate of universal quality education, strategic convener and information disseminator globally.
Ms. Ilwad Elman
Director, Elman Peace Centre
Currently responsible for designing and overseeing the Elman Peace & Human Rights Centre’s programs with a broad portfolio focus on human rights, gender, justice, protection of civilians, social entrepreneurship, and peace & security, Ms. Ilwad Elman also co-founded the first rape crisis centre in Somalia for survivors of sexual and gender based violence, designing interventions aimed at security sector reform to create an inclusive space for women in peace building, and developing programs for the disarmament and rehabilitation of child soldiers and adults defecting from armed groups for their socio-economic empowerment, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Mr. Per Heggenes
Chief Executive Officer, IKEA Foundation
As CEO of IKEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Stichting INGKA Foundation, the owner of the Swedish home furnishings company IKEA, Per Heggenes sets and drives the Foundation’s funding and innovation strategies, and is a tireless advocate for children living in some of the world’s poorest communities. Since becoming the Foundation’s first CEO in 2009, Heggenes has presided over the Foundation’s evolution into a global, grant-making philanthropy that funds programs in more than 45 countries. He serves on numerous advisory boards for humanitarian and development organizations and has taken a special interest in helping reform the way the global community works to embrace the rights of refugees and migrants – aimed at positive integration that leads to economic independence and self-reliance.
Ms. Kate Behncken
Vice President, Global Head of Microsoft Philanthropies, Microsoft Philanthropies
Kate leads a global team that is focused on partnering with nonprofits, the private sector, and government on local and global initiatives that help drive equitable and inclusive access to economic opportunity. Her work centers on providing access to digital skills for people excluded from the digital economy, empowering nonprofits, IGOs and civic organizations to leverage technology and services to build their capacity and advance their missions, and community engagement initiatives such as humanitarian response, TechSpark and Affordable Housing. Prior to this role, Kate was General Manager of the Microsoft Philanthropies Global Community Engagement team and Associate General Counsel and Chief of Staff to Microsoft President, Brad Smith. Kate began her Microsoft career in Australia and previously worked in legal roles across APAC and EMEA. In addition to her work with Microsoft, Kate serves on the board of United Way of King County, Titletown Tech, Generation Unlimited (UNICEF) and is a member of the CARE Corporate Council
Mr. Robert E. Moritz
Chairman, PwC
Appointed in 2016, Bob Moritz is the Chairman of the PwC International Network which supports over 276,000 employees in 157 countries. In this capacity, Bob leads a network of PwC firms that serve clients around the globe from multinational companies to start-ups. He is focused on creating a common culture based on quality, ethics, diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce for the future.
Dr. Kevin Frey
Chief Executive Officer, Generation Unlimited
Kevin has diverse private and public sector experience–as both an entrepreneur and an executive—spanning the education, technology, human capital and international development spheres. Prior to joining Generation Unlimited as CEO in 2021, Kevin was the CEO of Right To Play—an international development organization that works across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to protect, educate, and empower children and youth. Before Right To Play, Kevin spent 15 years in the international and higher education sectors, most recently leading Canada’s top-ranked MBA program at the University of Toronto as the Managing Director. At the age of 27, Kevin founded his first company, TeachAway, which has grown to become the world’s leading international job-matching platform for teachers. Driven by a vision to ensure that every student experiences the power of a great teacher, Kevin went on to co-found online tutoring platform Skooli, and online teacher training and certification company Klassroom. Kevin’s academic background includes an Honours Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Philosophy and History; an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; and a Doctorate in Business Administration from IE Business School, where his research focused on entrepreneurship.
Mr. Christian Klein
Chief Executive Officer, SAP
Christian Klein is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. In his role as CEO, Klein holds the overall responsibility for the corporate strategic direction, management, and performance of SAP. In addition to the role of CEO, until July 2021, Klein was also SAP’s Chief Operating Officer, leading SAP’s transformation into an Intelligent Enterprise to the benefit of both customers and employees. Prior to becoming CEO, Klein was the COO and head of the Intelligent Enterprise Group, combining global responsibility for the development and delivery of SAP’s core applications with the cross-board area mandate for SAP’s global business operations. Klein’s Intelligent Enterprise Group drove SAP’s digital core development functions and product management. This included SAP’s flagship product SAP S/4HANA, SAP Digital Supply Chain, and managing SAP’s rich industry-specific portfolio. Klein holds a diploma in International Business Administration from the University of Cooperative Education in Mannheim, Germany.
Mr. Joseph Mucheru
Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kenya
Appointed Cabinet Secretary by His Exellency the President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015, Mr. Joe Mucheru was formerly the Google “Sub-Saharan Africa ambassador” as well as Google Country Manager Kenya, based in Nairobi. He joined Google in June 2007 where he lead the delivery of strategy, business planning and operations. Before joining Google, he worked at Wananchi Online, a company he co-founded in 1999. He held various roles at the company including Strategy & Business Director and CEO. He studied at London’s City University and also attended Stanford University’s Executive Program in 2008.
Ms. Mamta Murthi
Vice President for Human Development, World Bank
Mamta started as Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank on July 1, 2020. In this role she oversees the Global Practices for Education, Health, Nutrition, Population, Gender, Social Protection and Jobs, as well as the Human Capital Project. Mamta has held many leadership positions at the World Bank, including as Director of Operations Policy (2019), Director of Strategy and Operations in Infrastructure (2018), Director of Strategy and Operations in the Africa Region (2015-2018), and Regional Country Director for the EU, based in Brussels (2012-15). An economist by training, she has had technical roles in Social Protection and Labor (1996-2004) and Education (2006-10). She was Deputy Director of the World Development Report on Development and the Next Generation in 2006. During 1998-2000, Mamta was MacArthur Fellow for Poverty and Inequality at King’s College, Cambridge.
Mr. Ravi Venkatesan
Special Representative for Young People, UNICEF
Ravi Venkatesan is UNICEF’s special representative for young people. He provides strategic guidance and support to UNICEF globally with high-level outreach, partnerships and scaling up innovations. Venkatesan was the former chairman of the Bank of Baroda between 2015-18 and prior to that as the chairman of Microsoft India, he helped build India into Microsoft's second-largest presence in the world. He has also served as the chairman of Cummins India and co-Chairman of Infosys.