USA for UNHCR Announces New Board Leadership and Names Three New Members

USA for UNHCR Announces New Board Leadership and Names Three New Members

WASHINGTON, DC (January 10, 2019) – USA for UNHCR announced new board leadership Thursday, appointing Mark Wallace, former Senior Vice President of Global Engineering and Sustainability at UPS, as its new chairperson. Wallace, who has served on the USA for UNHCR board since 2016, replaces Charles DeSantis, who served two three-year terms as board chair.

“Mark has both a passion for the mission and a track record of achievement. We are grateful to have him in this role, collaborating with leaders from all sectors of society, to deliver results for refugees,” said Executive Director and CEO Anne-Marie Grey.

On DeSantis’s departure, Grey remarked: “Looking back over the past four years I’ve had the opportunity to work with Charles, so many moments serve as vivid reminders of the important challenges humanity is up against, as well as the amazing power we have as a collective force to help and protect refugees around the world.”

The new board leadership team also includes Vice Chair Kelly Blevins, Treasurer Yasmin Causer and Secretary William Ball.

USA for UNHCR also welcomed new board members Latrise Brissett, Laura Lane and Jane Meseck.

Latrise Brissett is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Digital Analytics practice. She has spent her career focused on addressing the challenging needs of public service organizations by shaping and implementing strategic data-driven solutions that support their mission. Brissett has leveraged her professional skills to follow her passion for education and economic revitalization by assisting several New York City agencies, nonprofits and small businesses, enabling them to support disadvantaged populations throughout the city.

Laura Lane is the President of Global Public Affairs at UPS, where she is responsible for all worldwide government affairs activities in the over 220 countries and territories the company serves. Earlier in her career, Lane served as a trade negotiator and U.S. diplomat, including serving as the economic and political-military affairs officer at the American Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda where she led the evacuation of American citizens from Rwanda in April 1994 and later served as political advisor to U.S. forces providing humanitarian relief to Rwandan refugees.

Jane Meseck is Sr. Director, Global Programs & Partnerships, at Microsoft Philanthropies. Meseck brings more than 20 years of experience in empowering communities, organizations and nonprofits to transform the world. Meseck has been a fixture in nonprofit tech community and helped create NTEN.org and other nonprofit technology resources. She also leads Microsoft Philanthropies' Humanitarian Action initiative, providing support to humanitarian organizations of all sizes to help prepare for, respond to and rebuild from humanitarian crises around the world.

Along with DeSantis, Craig Johnstone, Kathleen Newland and Mika Brzezinski also rotated off the board on December 31, 2018.

About USA for UNHCR

USA for UNHCR protects refugees and empowers them with hope and opportunity. We strive to meet the unmet needs of the world’s most vulnerable people – the 68.5 million children, women and men who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence or persecution. As the only organization dedicated to raise awareness and funds in the U.S. for the UN Refugee Agency, USA for UNHCR has raised nearly $200 million to help refugees in the past five years. For more information, visit UNrefugees.org and follow us on Twitter @UNRefugeeAgency.

###

CONTACT: For more information or interviews, contact Junia Geisler, Director of Communications, at jgeisler@usaforunhcr.org.