Engaging civil society for enhanced collaboration with the United Nations in 2022

Kathryn Good

Kathryn Good

Kathryn Good serves as head of the Non-governmental Liaison Service and facilitates civil society participation in high-level UN conferences and events, ensuring a transparent and inclusive process for engagement.  Prior to this role, she served as Chief of Unit for Group Programmes and Public Inquiries, in the Department of Global Communications, overseeing the UN Speakers Bureau, the Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme, and visit.un.org and worked as the head of the English Language and Communications Programme in the Office of Human Resource Management. Prior to joining the UN, Kathryn Good was Director of International Programs at Brown University for ten years. She holds Master’s Degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Boston University and earned her B.A. from the University of Richmond.

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Robert Skinner is the Deputy Director and Chief of Partnerships and Global Engagement in the Outreach Division of United Nations Department of Global Communications. Prior to this, Robert was the Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Washington, DC, serving in this role from April 2021 to September 2021 and from November 2015 to July 2018. In between these periods, Robert was Senior Special Advisor in the UN’s Department of Global Communications, focusing on the UN’s COVID-19 Communications Response Initiative, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships.

Prior to joining the UN, Robert was the Executive Director in the New York Office of the United Nations Foundation. Before joining the Foundation in 2006, Robert held several positions in the United States Department of State, including as Deputy Spokesperson at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York, and as Public Affairs Officer for the United States Embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He also held diplomatic posts in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and San Salvador, El Salvador. Robert was an attorney in the Office of the Cook County Public Defender, Chicago, Illinois before starting his diplomatic career. Robert holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Oakland University in the United States. He is married and has two children.

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Patrick Sciarratta is the President of the Global NGO Executive Committee and a Senior Fellow at the World Development Foundation.  Mr. Sciarratta was the founder and director of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations (2002-2015), during which he introduced former UN Youth Envoy Ahmad Alhendawi, one of its early participants, to the United Nations. Patrick also produced the Ambassadors Sing For Peace CD, featuring 5 sitting UN Ambassadors. For over two decades, he has acted as Editor of the NGO Reporter, a quarterly disseminated by the GNEC to thousands of UNDGC affiliates worldwide.  Mr. Sciarratta was named by UNDGC as Co-Chair of the Media Committee for the very successful UN 68th Annual Civil Society Conference in August 2019 “Building Inclusive and Sustainable Communities.”  Patrick founded the Vinculum Foundation and the Bond Street Theatre Coalition, both residing in New York. Mr. Sciarratta is a MacArthur awardee for his work to recreate the home of America’s first arts community, near Woodstock, NY, in 1989.  Patrick was a Presidential Representative to President Clinton and received the NYS Governor’s Achievement award as well as a lifetime Achievement award from NYU Gallatin Division, where he obtained his interdisciplinary masters degree in 1980. 

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Dr. Padmini (Mini) Murthy is Professor and Global Health Director at New York Medical College School of Health Sciences and Practice.). She currently serves as chair of the IH Section of APHA. She is global health lead for the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and the NGO representative to UN.

Dr. Murthy has made over 150 presentations nationally and internationally is widely published and is the author and editor of Women's Global Health and Human Rights, Technology and Global Public Health (both of which are used as textbooks worldwide). Her other books include Mini’s Musings and Glorious Global Ganesh.

Dr. Murthy’s research interests focus on women’s health and human rights, social determinants of health, global health diplomacy, and promotion of global health with a focus on bridging inequities and promoting gender harmony.  

Dr. Murthy has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards, Sojourner Truth Pin, Elizabeth Blackwell Medal for her service to women globally. She has been working with other NGOs and organizations to address the current COVID-19 crisis globally in fundraising and collecting PPE and other medical equipment.

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Andi Gitow is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist, filmmaker and communication expert who is currently heading advocacy, civil society relations and entertainment industry engagement at the United Nations’ Department of Global Communications.

Andi has served in a variety of roles at the UN including as Deputy Director of the UN office in Washington, where she was a key liaison with the White House, State Department, Pentagon and U.S. Congress, as well as with civil society. She also served as Head of Global Campaigns and Films for the UN’s Humanitarian arm; as Head of Partnerships in the UN’s Media Division; and as Executive Producer, overseeing the creation of award-winning films, broadcast and digital content.

Andi has also headed Strategy, Partnerships and Media at Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation, overseeing communications, managing large-scale partnerships and co-productions, and spearheading immersive innovations. She also spent nearly a decade as a broadcast journalist at NBC Network News. Andi has traveled to and reported from more than 50 countries, covering stories on genocide, human rights and humanitarian issues and has focused on social impact storytelling. Her work has garnered more than 30 prestigious awards, including two Emmys.

Andi is also a frequent speaker on foreign policy issues and advises the entertainment community, including serving as an expert consultant to the Emmy-Award winning series The Handmaid’s Tale.

She holds an undergraduate and Masters’ Degree from Columbia University.

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Dr. Connie Sobon Sensor is a professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, USA. She currently represents the League of Women Voters of the United States as a UN Observer. Dr. Sensor earned a PhD from Seton Hall University, a Masters in Nursing Management from Kean University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from New Jersey City University. She has presented locally, nationally and internationally about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Leadership in Global Health, and her research about health-related beliefs, practices and experiences of migrant populations.

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A heart-centered paradigm shifter, Nadine is committed to co-creating a world that places compassion, communities, and ecosystems at the root of positive change. She holds a Masters in Environmental Policy from Lehigh University. Nadine is an environmental & human rights activist, a facilitator, a resilience & alignment coach, consultant, writer, and public speaker.

She currently serves as Vice President of GNEC. She became a Director on the Global NGO Executive Committee at just 21 years old, the first young person to serve in this capacity.

She serves as an NGO Youth Representative to the United Nations for the Australia-based NGO, Caring & Living As Neighbours, is a Director on the board of Indigenous NCDs, an Associate with the International Institute for Child Rights and Development, and is a co-author of both the Global Youth Climate Action Declaration and the Phoenix Manifesto.

She’s currently co-creating "Emergence of Heart", a film project using a "feel to heal" approach to the climate crisis while weaving together critical reflections on eco-anxiety, identity, whiteness, gender, & responsibility.

As Founder & President of Conscious Consulting LLC, she supports organizations as a partner in organizational evolution, creative strategic development, and workshop design & facilitation. Her work focuses on justice, sustainability, resilience, conscious communication, and defining & aligning with purpose.

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Rinor Jani currently serves as a Representative of Pathways to Peace to the United Nations. He also serves on the United Nations Department of Global Communications Youth Steering Committee. Mr. Jani actively works on migrant and refugee rights and on nuclear disarmament advocacy for the Balkan region. He is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Human Rights at Columbia University.  

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Dr. Sandra Timmermann, a Director of the Global NGO Executive Committee, is a Representative to the United Nations for the International Federation on Ageing, an NGO whose members are government, NGOs, academia, industry and individuals in nearly 80 countries.  She is actively engaged in assuring that the human rights for older persons are protected and no one is left behind, regardless of age. An active member of the NGO Committee on Aging/NY, she just left office as Recording Secretary, served as chair of the Nominating sub-committee and is currently the Program co-chair. In 2017, she chaired the UN International Day of Older Persons.

Dr. Timmermann has held senior positions in the field of aging for over 35 years and is nationally recognized for her work in aging, retirement, and business.  For nearly20 years, she was a Vice President at MetLife and the Founder and Director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, a research and education center of excellence. She also served as a spokesperson for the company on issues affecting retirees, their families and those about to retire.   Prior to that, she held senior positions at the American Society on Aging (VP and Director of Education), AARP (Director, Institute of Lifetime Learning) and SeniorNet (Director of Education).

A writer and speaker, she is the Financial Gerontology columnist for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, is on the Editorial Board of Employee Benefits News, and writes for Retirement Daily. She has been interviewed by various media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, Reuters, Financial Planning, Time-Japan and many others.

Her numerous volunteer leadership roles have included serving as Chair of the Board of the National Alliance for Caregiving and the Business Forum on Aging, and on the Boards of the American Society on Aging, Generations United, the American Foundation for the Blind, the National Aging in Place Council and others.  She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, was awarded the 2019 Leadership Award from the American Society on Aging and holds ASA’s Cavanaugh Award for Excellence in Education. She received a BA from the University of Colorado and MA and EdD degrees from Columbia University.  

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Olasubomi Iginla Aina is the Executive Director of the Lightup Foundation, a non-governmental organization working with young people and the disadvantaged people. The Lightup Foundation has a Special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications, which Olasubomi has led effectively and remarkably for the past 21 years. Within this period, the organization has executed hundreds of projects that have benefited tens of thousands and have broken a world record which is currently been used to project the rights of the child i.e. UNCRC in selected countries (targeting 30 countries) of the world under the project tag: “Bag Of Hope” .

Olasubomi Iginla Aina’s contributions has been recognised nationally and internationally. First, she was recently recognised by her Majesty the Queen of England with the appointment of the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire MBE on the 26th of November 2019. Following that she was appointed by the Nigerian government as the Diaspora Ambassador to Nigeria as well as the National Assembly Ambassador to the UK.  She was recognised by the US government due to her impact on women and young people in Nigeria, hence she was invited to represent Nigeria at a high-profile Leadership programme organised by the US government. Additionally, Ms. Olasubomi Iginla Aina was recently elected as a Global NGO Executive Committee Director (GNEC). 

Her humanitarian work has become well known and featured internationally across various media outlets including the Washington Post, Punch, the Sun newspaper, London Gazette, Croydon Advertiser, Surrey Mirror, television stations such as Canada TV, Ben TV, Passion TV, TVC station, Channels News, African Independent Television (AIT) etc. In 2010, she was celebrated as a GOOD SAMARITAN on the BBC One Show. Ms. Olasubomi is currently a doctoral student at the University of Brighton. PhD Topic: “Africa moving from aid to trade - Nigeria as a case study.” this explores the possible ways to achieve the UN SDGs 8 and 9. 

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Mr. Felipe Queipo began his United Nations career at the NGO Relations & Advocacy Section of the Department of Public Information (DPI) in 2008. He currently serves as the Communications Officer responsible for outreach, engagement and global communications with civil society in the Department of Global Communications (DGC). 

Felipe is a member of the United Nations Speakers Bureau, and travels extensively invited to speak at conferences, forums and academic institutions on civil society and public diplomacy, the role of youth in international relations, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, among other subjects. Mr. Queipo assists civil society organizations in developing media policies and strategies to increase the efficacy of their outreach efforts in support of the United Nations. 

Felipe is also the focal point for faith-based organizations within DGC. In this capacity, he leads the team that organizes the "Focus on Faith" briefings within the Department, an initiative that studies the links between faith traditions and religious organizations, and the work and mission of the United Nations. The Focus on Faith Series has explored, among other themes, the role that gender plays in religious institutions, the contribution of religious organizations in preventing violent extremism, as well as the efforts to address the refugee and migrants’ crises around the globe and the resettlement work of governments and faith-based civil society. 

Before Graduating from Brigham Young University Idaho, where he studied Political Science, Felipe attended SLU Madrid.