Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Margot B. Ellis of United States

 

Deputy Commissioner-General of UNRWA

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Margot B. Ellis (United States) as Deputy Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Replacing Filippo Grandi, who has taken up a new appointment as UNRWA Commissioner-General, Ms. Ellis brings a wealth of senior-level experience to her new function.  Since July 2008, she has been Acting Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Asia.

Prior to that appointment, she spent 21 years, from 1987 to 2008, in various senior positions with the Development Agency, including Mission Director in Kampala, Uganda; Deputy Mission Director in the West Bank and Gaza; Director of the Private Enterprise Office in the West Bank and Gaza; Director of the Private Sector Division in Pretoria, South Africa; and Programme Officer in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Between 1977 and 1987, Ms. Ellis worked in the private sector with a number of leading companies, serving as Senior Programme Director for Finance and International Business at the American Management Association; Financial Projects Advisor to the Controller for JP Morgan Chase Corporation; Senior Staff Associate for General Motors Corporation; and Supervisor and Senior Financial Analyst for Ford Motor Corporation.

Ms. Ellis holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and public policy from Cornell University and a master’s in business administration from Columbia University School of Business.

Born in 1953, she is married and has two children.

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For information media • not an official record