Elizabeth M. Cousens

Elizabeth M. Cousens (born October 27, 1963) is the current President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation.

in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council and Alternate Representative to the UN General Assembly where she led U.S. negotiations on the SDGs (2012-2014); served on the boards of UN agencies, funds, and programmes; and was U.S. representative to the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

[4][5] Elizabeth Cousens became the UN Foundation’s third President and CEO in 2020, selected to lead the Foundation’s next generation of work to support the United Nations.

[4] On 23 May 2024, Cousens was among the guests invited to the state dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in honor of President William Ruto of Kenya at the White House.