Dr Natalia Kanem currently serves as Executive Director of UNFPA, prior to which she was Deputy Executive Director (Programme), and earlier UNFPA Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania from 2014 to 2016. Before joining the United Nations, Dr. Kanem was Senior Associate at the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago from 2012 to 2013. From 2005 to 2011, she was the founding President of ELMA Philanthropies Services, a private institution focusing primarily on children and youth in Africa. She served The Ford Foundation from 1992 to 2005 in various capacities, including: Deputy Vice-President and Senior Director of the Peace and Social Justice Programme; Senior Director of the Office of Management Services; Representative for West Africa (based in Lagos and Dakar); and Programme Officer in the Nigeria Office for Women’s Reproductive Health and Sexuality.