Carsten Stendevad elected new Chair of the Danish Refugee Council
At DRC’s Council meeting, Carsten was elected as chair of the DRC Danish Refugee Council’s Board of Directors, replacing Agi Csonka, who stepped down after six years. Carsten has held a number of leadership positions with leading global institutions, and currently serves as co-Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at Bridgewater & Associates.
DRC is a leading global humanitarian NGO with 8,000 employees in 40 countries working to protect, advocate and build sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement-affected people and communities. Last year, DRC provided humanitarian assistance to close to 8 million refugees and displaced people. DRC has consistently been voted to be one of the world’s best NGOs.
Carsten is a Partner and Co-Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at Bridgewater & Associates, and also serves as Board Advisor to GIC, Singapore’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. Carsten is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He previously served as CEO of ATP, Denmark’s national pension plan and was previously member of the board of Directors at Novo Holding and Unicef Denmark. Educated as an economist from the University of Copenhagen, and also holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University.
“I am very pleased with the election of Carsten, and I look forward to our collaboration. With his impressive experience from large organizations, with his strong network across governments, investors and companies worldwide, and with his solid understanding of the humanitarian sector, we could not have found a better Chair to help us lead DRC successfully into the future,” says DRC’s Secretary General Charlotte Slente.
“Although DRC is stronger than ever, a growing number of humanitarian crises must be handled with scarcer resources. Therefore, we need to think of new, innovative and alternative funding options if we are to continue to help millions of refugees and displaced persons. We look forward to being able to draw on Carsten's experience so that DRC can assist even more people better,” says Charlotte Slente.
Carsten Stendevad is looking forward to using his skills to the benefit of DRC’s humanitarian mandate:
“I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to contribute to DRC’s critical mission. DRC is widely recognized as a leading global humanitarian organization that makes a real difference in a world where wars and conflicts continue to displace millions of children, women and men,” says Carsten Stendevad.
I am very pleased with the election of Carsten, and I look forward to our collaboration. With his impressive experience from large organizations, with his strong network across governments, investors and companies worldwide, and with his solid understanding of the humanitarian sector, we could not have found a better Chair to help us lead DRC successfully into the future
DRC’s Secretary General Charlotte Slente