Appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Dr. Natalia Kanem served as Executive Director of UNFPA from October 2017 to July 2025, bringing decades of strategic leadership in preventive medicine, public and reproductive health, social justice and philanthropy. 

Dr. Kanem began her research career in academia with the Johns Hopkins and Columbia University schools of medicine and public health. She joined UNFPA in 2014 as Country Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania and in 2016 was named Deputy Executive Director in charge of programmes. Previously Dr. Kanem served as founding president of ELMA Philanthropies Inc., a philanthropic institution focusing on Africa’s children and youth, and as a senior associate of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.

At the Ford Foundation from 1992 to 2004, she funded pioneering work on women’s reproductive health and human rights, serving first in West Africa and eventually as Deputy Vice-President for peace and social justice programmes in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and North America.

Dr. Kanem holds a medical degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in public health with specializations in epidemiology and preventive medicine from the University of Washington. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University in history and science.

In 2019, Dr. Kanem presided over the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, which marked the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development. Named on the 2019 Gender Equality Top 100 list by Apolitical, an online platform for global public servants and policymakers, Dr. Kanem is recognized for her leadership in advocating for the rights and choices of women and girls, and as one of the most influential people in formulating global policy on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Sustainable Development Goals era.