Carol Bellamy | |
|---|---|
 Speaking in 2008 | |
| Executive Director ofUNICEF | |
| In office May 1, 1995 – May 1, 2005 | |
| Secretary General | Boutros Boutros-Ghali Kofi Annan |
| Preceded by | Richard Jolly(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Ann Veneman |
| 13th Director of thePeace Corps | |
| In office October 7, 1993 – May 1, 1995 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Elaine Chao |
| Succeeded by | Mark Gearan |
| President of theNew York City Council | |
| In office January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Paul O'Dwyer |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Stein |
| Member of theNew York State Senate | |
| In office January 1, 1973 – December 31, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | John J. Marchi |
| Succeeded by | Martin Connor |
| Constituency | 23rd district (1973–1974) 25th district (1975–1977) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1942-01-14)January 14, 1942 (age 84) Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal (1985) |
| Education | Gettysburg College (BA) New York University (JD) |
Carol Bellamy (born January 14, 1942) is an American nonprofit executive and former politician. She is chair of the board of theGlobal Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). Previously, she was director of thePeace Corps, executive director of theUnited Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and president and CEO ofWorld Learning. She is also the chair of children's rights advocacy organizationECPAT International, working to end the sexual exploitation of children. After three terms in the New York State Senate, she was the first woman to be elected to any citywide office in NYC asPresident of the New York City Council, a position she held until her unsuccessful bid forMayor of New York in 1985; she was the second to last person to hold this position.
Bellamy was born inPlainfield, New Jersey in 1942,[1] and raised inScotch Plains, graduating fromScotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1959.[2][3] She attendedGettysburg College,[1] where she was a member ofDelta Gamma, and graduated in 1963. She earned herJ.D. degree fromNew York University School of Law in 1968, and was a Peace Corps volunteer inGuatemala from 1963 to 1965.[4]
Bellamy was a managing director atBear Stearns from 1990 to 1993, a Principal atMorgan Stanley from 1986 to 1990, and an associate in the New York law firm ofCravath, Swaine & Moore from 1968 to 1971. In 1968, she was to be one of the subjects ofJean-Luc Godard's filmOne A.M. (later released asOne P.M. byD. A. Pennebaker) where she described her philosophy of using business to accomplish social change. Her speech was then satirized byRip Torn wearing aUS Civil War uniform in front of a Brooklyn middle school class.[5]
Bellamy was a member of theNew York State Senate from 1973 to 1977, sitting in the180th,181st and182nd New York State Legislatures.
She mounted an uphill campaign forPresident of the New York City Council in 1977. While her opponents spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in their campaigns, Bellamy carried on with just $90,000 in funds, and, despite her initially low public profile, managed to finish a strong second in the Democratic primary with 25 percent of the vote, behind the incumbentPaul O'Dwyer, who got 30 percent, and ahead of City CouncilmanCarter Burden, AssemblymanLeonard Stavisky and developerAbe Hirschfeld. Because no candidate had received at least 40 percent, O'Dwyer and Bellamy met in arunoff two weeks later, which she won handily, getting 58 percent of the vote. In the November general election, she easily beat theRepublican candidate, Assemblyman John Esposito, by a 5-to-1 margin, becoming the first woman elected to citywide office in New York. She held the Council Presidency until her unsuccessful bid forMayor of New York in 1985.[6][7]
Bellamy was a member of theMetropolitan Transportation Authority Board until she resigned from the board at the behest of GovernorMario Cuomo in 1985.[8] In 1982 she considered running forGovernor of New York. In 1990 she was an unsuccessful candidate forNew York State Comptroller. She served on theNew York State Board of Regents, which oversees all state education activities and thestate Department of Education, from 2005 to 2006.
From 1993 to 1995, Bellamy was the director of the Peace Corps. Appointed by then US PresidentBill Clinton, she was the first director to have previously been a volunteer.[9]
As of 2014 Carol Bellamy is the Chair of the Governing Board of theGlobal Community Engagement and Resilience Fund which is the first global effort to support local, community-level initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience againstviolent extremist agendas, for example through job creation and empowering women and youth. As a public-private partnership operating in the fields of security and development, the fund works with governments, civil society, and the private sector in beneficiary countries to support national strategies to address the local drivers ofviolent extremism.
Bellamy was appointed to the position of executive director ofUNICEF in 1995 byBoutros Boutros-Ghali, then theSecretary-General of the United Nations.[4] She was granted a second five-year term in 2000 by Boutros-Ghali's successor,Kofi Annan.[10] UN policy states that agency heads may serve no more than two five-year terms.[citation needed]
Bellamy is credited with having left behind a fiscally sound organization with strong[citation needed] internal controls. She increased UNICEF's resources from roughly $800 million ($966 m in 2004 terms) in 1994 to more than $1.8 billion in 2004.[citation needed]
Bellamy was appointed the President and CEO of theBrattleboro, Vermont-based World Learning and president of itsSchool for International Training in 2005. World Learning is a global organization with operations in more than 75 countries that fostersglobal citizenship through experiential education and community-driven development programs. Organizations that fund World Learning include theTides Foundation and Rockefeller Financial Services.[11]
On July 25, 2007, Bellamy was elected chair of the board of directors of theFair Labor Association (FLA). The FLA advocates for workers' interests by promotinginternational labor standards. "For eight years the FLA has been strengthening its capacity to work with companies, factories, civil society organizations and others to end sweatshop labor and protect workers' rights. It is now moving beyond its rigorous monitoring program to focus greater attention on identifying the root causes of these problems and to develop sustainable compliance programs," said Bellamy in accepting the position.[citation needed]
In April 2009, Bellamy was appointed as chair of theInternational Baccalaureate (IB) board of governors.[12] Between 2010 and 2013, Carol Bellamy was the chair of the Board of Directors of theGlobal Partnership for Education. Bellamy is a member of the Board of theAmerican University of Beirut.
In 1981, she was selected to be one of the first Young Leaders of theFrench-American Foundation.[13]
Bellamy is a former Fellow of theHarvard Institute of Politics at theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government and an honorary member ofPi Alpha Alpha. At its 1982 commencement ceremonies,Barnard College awarded Bellamy the college's highest honor, theMedal of Distinction.
Bellamy received anhonoraryDoctor of Humane Letters fromBates College in 2003. She returned to heralma mater, the NYU School of Law, to deliver a commencement day speech in May 2006.
For her work with UNICEF, she was awarded Japan'sOrder of the Rising Sun in 2006.[14] In 2009, she was recognized for her work by France with theLegion of Honour.[15][16]
| New York State Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theNew York Senate from the 23rd district 1973–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theNew York Senate from the 25th district 1975–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theNew York City Council 1978–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Liberal nominee forMayor of New York City 1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forComptroller of New York 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Director of thePeace Corps 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Executive Director ofUNICEF 1995–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Positions in intergovernmental organisations | ||
| Preceded by ??? | Chair of theGlobal Partnership for Education 2010–2013 | Succeeded by |
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