Mark Suzman is CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a member of its board of trustees. He was previously its chief strategy officer, president of global policy and advocacy and managing director of country offices. He joined the foundation in 2007 as director of global development policy, advocacy and special Initiatives. Prior to this, Suzman held multiple positions over six years at the United Nations, including senior advisor for policy and strategic communications in the secretary general’s office and policy director in the office of the administrator of the U.N. Development Program. He joined the U.N. in 2000 to help implement the Millennium Development Goals. Suzman began his career as a journalist, writing for the Financial Times and Johannesburg Star in his native South Africa.