A Career Built at the Intersection of Business and Multilateral Action
Sanda Ojiambo’s leadership at the United Nations Global Compact reflects a career deliberately shaped at the intersection of global business, government, and multilateral institutions. As Assistant Secretary-General and head of the UN Global Compact, she occupies one of the most strategically important roles in the international system, guiding how the private sector aligns with public priorities and contributes meaningfully to global outcomes.
Her path to this role has been forged through deep experience within the UN system and sustained engagement with corporate leadership, particularly across emerging and frontier markets. Before assuming her current position, Sanda Ojiambo led the UN Global Compact as CEO and Executive Director beginning in 2020, steering the organization through a period of significant transformation, including the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, she launched a new strategy to deepen business engagement with the UN system, strengthen accountability around the Ten Principles, and accelerate private sector contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.
From Global Frameworks to Real-World Execution
Earlier in her career, Sanda Ojiambo worked across international development and private sector engagement, gaining firsthand insight into how global frameworks translate into national action and local impact. This experience has shaped a pragmatic leadership style grounded in execution, accountability, and alignment.
Her understanding of how companies operate in complex political and economic environments has been central to her ability to bridge corporate strategy with multilateral priorities. It has also informed her belief that sustainable development cannot be achieved through siloed efforts, but requires coordinated action across sectors and geographies.
Strengthening the UN Global Compact’s Global Impact
Under Ojiambo’s leadership, the UN Global Compact has continued to expand its global reach, engaging more than 20,000 companies across nearly every country, supported by one of the most extensive local network systems in the UN. More importantly, her tenure has been marked by a renewed emphasis on credibility, CEO-level ownership, and measurable impact.
She has championed the integration of sustainability into corporate governance, finance, and long-term strategy, reinforcing the expectation that responsible business practices are inseparable from long-term value creation. At a time of heightened scrutiny around corporate commitments, Ojiambo has helped strengthen trust between business, governments, and civil society by elevating transparency and accountability.
Convening Power: Turning Dialogue into Partnership
A defining feature of Sanda Ojiambo’s leadership has been the strategic use of convening power to move from dialogue to action. Under her guidance, the UN Global Compact has played a central role in organizing high-level global forums that convene leaders across sectors to connect ideas, capital, and partnerships.
Flagship platforms such as Unstoppable Africa have positioned the private sector as a key partner in advancing inclusive growth, industrialization, and sustainable development across the continent, while elevating African leadership and opportunity on the global stage. The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, meanwhile, has become a critical global moment for CEOs, governments, and UN leadership to align around shared priorities and mobilize collective action.
These forums serve not only as spaces for dialogue, but as catalysts for partnership formation, investment, and coordinated implementation, reinforcing the UN Global Compact’s role as a bridge between ambition and execution.
Building Bridges in a Fragmented World
In a period marked by geopolitical fragmentation, economic uncertainty, and accelerating climate and social risks, Sanda Ojiambo stands out as a bridge builder. Her leadership reflects a clear understanding that the private sector must be an active partner in global problem-solving, working in close alignment with governments and multilateral institutions.
By leveraging the scale, influence, and operational capacity of business, while anchoring action in public purpose and multilateral coordination, Sanda Ojiambo is helping to redefine the role of companies in the global system.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct a biographical reference regarding Ms. Ojiambo’s prior roles.
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