Adrianus Melkert
Board Chairman
A former cabinet minister of Social Affairs and Employment in his native country, The Netherlands, Ad Melkert rose to international prominence as Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank Group; UN-Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme; and as UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq. These international positions followed a sixteen years period in Dutch politics as Member of Parliament and cabinet minister, before becoming the leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) and a candidate for Prime Minister in the 2002 elections.
In recent years Ad Melkert has been operating worldwide as senior independent adviser, coach and facilitator working with governments, major international corporations and civil society organizations on various topics, with an emphasis on the global 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, Financing for Development and Climate Action Agendas; and on social dialogue in support of “inclusive growth” and job creation strategies.
He currently serves as an Extraordinary Councillor at the Council of State of The Netherlands, appointed by H.M. the King, with the task to advise on budgetary policies under the EU Stability and Growth Pact.
In addition, he holds various private sector Board and Supervisory Board positions, including as chairman of Development Gateway, a “data and digital for development” focused social enterprise in Washington DC.