United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf announced today their appointment of Josette Sheeran ( United States) as Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), in succession to James Morris. The Executive Board of WFP has confirmed its concurrence with the appointment of Ms. Sheeran.

Ms. Sheeran currently serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs where she is responsible for economic issues including development, trade, agriculture, finance, energy, telecommunications and transportation.

Prior to her appointment as Under Secretary, Ms. Sheeran served as Deputy United States Trade Representative in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). There, she was responsible for trade negotiations and treaties in Asia and Africa and for advancing global negotiations on trade capacity-building.

Ms. Sheeran has a 20-year proven track record as a management leader, including overseeing the State Department’s economic diplomatic corps of 2,000. Before joining USTR, she was managing director of Starpoint Solutions, a leading Wall Street technology firm that works with Fortune 500 clients. She also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Empower America, a Washington, D.C., think tank, where she advanced the agenda of economic empowerment for inner cities and developing nations.

Ms. Sheeran has a distinguished background in media. She was managing editor of the Washington Times and has twice served as a Pulitzer Prize juror, including for foreign reporting.

Ms. Sheeran was appointed by the Secretary-General to the High-Level United Nations Panel on System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment. She has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations for more than a decade and has served on its Washington advisory board. She has received numerous awards, including the Press Award for Journalistic Achievement by the National Order of Women Legislators, and a national award for developing and promoting African-American journalists.

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