Broadly responsible for setting the International Fund’s strategic direction, the Board is one of two bodies composing the International Fund’s innovative governance structure. The other body, the Council, includes representatives of International Fund donors, focus region governments and media organizations, and other stakeholders, and is broadly responsible for oversight, including through appointing the external auditor of the Fund.

The Board is co-chaired by Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Laureate and co-founder and CEO of Rappler, and Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN and former CEO of The New York Times Company. Ms. Ressa presided over the signing and appointment ceremony, which took place as part of the sixth edition of the Paris Peace Forum.

Ms. Ressa and Mr. Thompson are joined on the Board by six other experts in media and global development. They are:

• Gina Chua, executive editor of Semafor and former executive editor of Reuters;
• Pascal Lamy, vice president of the Paris Peace Forum and former European commissioner for trade; 
• Stefan Löfven*,  co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on effective multilateralism and former prime minister of Sweden; 
• Nanjala Nyabola, noted journalist and founder of the Kiswahili Digital Rights Project; 
• Dr. Julie Posetti, deputy vice president for global research at the International Center for Journalists;
• Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas* (chair of the Audit and Finance Committee), former assistant secretary-general, controller of the United Nations.

Ms. Tucci Bartsiotas and Mr. Löfven joined last month’s meeting as the newest members of the Board. Their deep expertise in global development and multilateral collaboration will help to guide the International Fund’s ongoing strategic development. Their full biographies are included below.

Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas

Board member; Chair of the audit and finance committee

Bettina Tucci Bartsiotas is a former Assistant Secretary-General and Controller of the United Nations. Ms. Tucci Bartsiotas currently serves in boards and on committees of a number of international entities, including as Treasurer of the United Nations Federal Credit Union, as a member of the Independent Oversight Advisory Committee of the World Food Programme, a member of the Finance Commission of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance. Ms. Tucci Bartsiotas is also a member of the Council of the University for Peace based in Costa Rica, and a member of Group of Women Leaders/Voices for Change.

Ms. Tucci Bartsiotas has previously served as Director of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute (UNICRI) in Torino, Italy; Director of Budget and Finance/Chief Financial Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria; Deputy Director/Head of Budget at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in New York, USA. In addition to leading her own business as a Certified Public Accountant in the Washington, D.C. area, she worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 

Stefan Löfven

Board member

Stefan Löfven served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 2021 and leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2012 to 2021. Currently, Mr. Löfven is president of the PES, which brings together labor and social democratic parties across the European Union, the UK, and Norway. Mr. Löfven also chairs the boards of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) as well as the Olof Palme Memorial Fund.

Mr. Löfven’s background includes extensive experience from various domestic and international assignments. In 2022, Mr. Löfven was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to co-lead a High-level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism in preparation for the Summit of the Future. He was previously the international secretary of the Swedish trade union IF Metall and, subsequently, its chair (2006–12).

Mr. Löfven was also a board member of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (2006–12), a board member of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (2010–12), deputy chair of the Swedish Trade Council (2004–12), and a board member of the Olof Palme International Centre (2002–2006).