Caryl M. Stern (born October 30, 1957) is an American author, child advocate, civil and human rights activist, and non-profit executive.

Early life

Stern was born to Edwin and Manuela Stern in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

. She has one sibling, her brother, Dr. Mitchell Stern. Stern graduated from high school at age 16 and went on to receive her bachelor's degree at the

State University of New York at Oneonta The State University of New York at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public university in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta N ...

, when she was 20. She received her master's degree at

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

and pursued a doctorate in education at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. In her early career, Stern served in several leadership positions at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, New York, including dean of students from 1985 to 1987.Interview: Caryl M. Stern

Anti-Defamation League

In 1987, Stern took a post with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). There she headed A World of Difference, a diversity training and anti-bias project. Stern was later promoted to director of the education division at the ADL and eventually

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) and senior associate national director of the organization. In 2006, she left the ADL for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the oldest of the 36 national committees that support the United Nations Children's Fund (

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

) and collectively raise about one-third of its annual income.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Stern joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in 2006 as COO and served as acting president for a short time before assuming the role of president and CEO in May 2007. In this role, she advocated for continued U.S. Government support of UNICEF and headed the organization's efforts to raise awareness and revenue for UNICEF's efforts to aid children affected by disasters including the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

, the

2011 East Africa drought Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, and the current Ebola crisis. During her tenure, the U.S. Fund's revenues have increased from $372,131,340 in FY 2007 to $606,869,535 in FY 2014.

Walton Family Foundation

Stern was announced as Executive Director for the Walton Family Foundation in September 2019. She will start in the position in January 2020. She'll head the non-profit that, in 2018, awarded nearly $600 million in grants for various charitable causes.

Personal

Stern is married to real estate developer Donald LaRosa. They have three sons. Stern's compensation as president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF is $521,820.

Books and publications

Stern is the co-author of ''Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice'' and ''Future Perfect: A Model for Professional Development''. ''I Believe in Zero: Learning from the World's Children'', a collection of Stern's accounts from areas affected by crisis, war, and disaster was published in 2013.

References

External links

*
Unicef USA Bio Page
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Caryl M. 1957 births Living people American women writers American women chief executives Western Illinois University alumni Loyola University Chicago alumni State University of New York at Oneonta alumni American chief operating officers 21st-century American women