Axelrod, who currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at the United Nations Foundation, will join the Institute this fall
Contact: Jon Purves
Associate Director, Media Relations
The Aspen Institute
Jon.Purves@aspeninstitute.org
Washington DC, August 3- This week, the Aspen Institute announced the appointment of Andrew Axelrod as its new Executive Vice President for Finance and Enterprise Business Development. Axelrod, who will start at the Institute this fall, has served in leadership roles for 11 years at the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and is currently the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he is responsible for all of UNF’s business functions, including financial planning and management, organizational strategy development and execution, people and culture, facilities, and technology and digital services.
“Andrew is an outstanding finance professional, organizational leader, and strategist with a demonstrated track record of fiscal leadership and management for a nonprofit of our size and scope,” said Aspen Institute President and CEO Dan Porterfield. “As the Institute’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Enterprise Business Development, he will lead all aspects of our financial management and reporting, bring a business sensibility to new revenue opportunities, help us strengthen our fiscal sustainability, and promote effective collaboration on finances across the Institute and with our Board of Trustees. All of this work is critical to our mission and is in service of our purpose to promote a more free, just and equitable world.”
At UNF, Axelrod was responsible for the development of the organization’s 2030 financial sustainability strategy, its first foundation-wide business planning and performance management systems, and in its multi-year digital transformation strategy and implementation. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, he led UNF teams and systems in mobilizing more than $200 million for the Solidarity Response Fund to support the World Health Organization in its pandemic relief efforts. In the early phase of his career, Andrew held strategic finance roles at K12 Inc—where he was responsible for leading the company’s entry into the higher education market—The Parthenon Group, The Home Depot, and Ernst & Young. He graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Commerce and holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
“Andrew Axelrod is an ideal leader for this critical role,” said Aspen Institute trustee, Finance Committee chair, and search committee co-chair Brooks Entwistle. “After a thorough process that yielded many strong candidates, I know I speak for our entire search committee when I say that we could not be more excited about all that Andrew will bring to the Aspen Institute in the years to come.”
“The Aspen Institute’s mission has never been more essential,” said Axelrod. “We are living through highly polarized times, and the Institute’s ability to bring together diverse voices and ideas to prompt change deeply resonates with me. I am honored to be joining the Aspen Institute team and look forward to contributing to the organization’s ongoing success alongside an impressive group of colleagues.”
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The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
