The International Crisis Group is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to its Board of Trustees. The newly constituted Board, which plays an important role in Crisis Group’s global mission of preventing, mitigating and resolving deadly conflict, now includes 49 members from roughly 30 countries.

“It is an honour to welcome such distinguished individuals to Crisis Group’s Board of Trustees. Having members of different backgrounds with extensive experience is invaluable to our understanding of the conflicts the world is facing”, said Crisis Group President & CEO Comfort Ero. “Their wise counsel and array of expertise will better equip our organisation to grapple with the increasingly challenging global peace and security landscape”. 

The expertise of the new Trustees, ranging from Central Asia, South Asia and the United States, will be an asset to further our mission to prevent war and shape peace. These individuals bring to our Board vast experience in the corporate, philanthropic, foreign affairs, political and human rights sectors. 

“We are confident the expertise and insights of our five new Trustees will be invaluable in guiding Crisis Group’s work at such a crucial moment for international peace and security”, said Crisis Group Co-Chair Frank Giustra. Susana Malcorra, fellow Co-Chair, added: “The addition of these new Trustees ensures Crisis Group will remain at the forefront of the conflict resolution sphere and their perspectives will no doubt enrich our collective wisdom”.

New Members of Crisis Group’s Board of Trustees:

Fatima Gailani
Afghan political leader and women’s rights activist, who previously served as president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, of which she is now a Board member. Earlier, Ms. Gailani was spokesperson for the Afghan Resistance to the former Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan and one of the senior negotiators at the 2020-2021 Afghan peace talks held in Qatar.

Julius Gaudio
Managing director of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and is responsible for overseeing D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments. Until 2024, Mr. Gaudio served on the Executive Committee of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and D. E. Shaw & Co., L.L.C. for more than two decades, in which capacity he jointly supervised the D. E. Shaw group’s worldwide businesses, and was a member of the firm’s Risk Committee. During his tenure at the firm, he has been instrumental in the formation, trading, and management of a number of its investment strategies. Mr. Gaudio previously served as a Board member of Acumen Fund.

Stephen Heintz
President and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Previously, Mr. Heintz had a career in public service, co-founded and served as president of the public policy organisation Dēmos, was co-chair of the National Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship in the 21st Century, and served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the EastWest Institute.

Nancy Lindborg
President and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Vice Chair of the Board of the Climate Works Foundation, and Advisory Council Member of the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity. She previously served as the president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), assistant administrator during the Obama Administration for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) at USAID, and prior to that was president of Mercy Corps.

Nirupama Rao
Former Foreign Secretary of India and former Indian Ambassador to the United States. Ms. Rao was the first Indian woman ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, as well as India’s first woman spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, and the first woman high commissioner from India to Sri Lanka.

See the full list of Crisis Group’s Board of Trustees.