Special Adviser on Reforms to the Secretary-General of the United Nations; Secretary General's Designate managing the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund

Mr. Jens Wandel was appointed in 2018 by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Reforms.

As Special Adviser, Mr. Wandel coordinates the three Reform streams: Sustainable Development, Peace and Security and Management.

Mr. Wandel has had many years of distinguished service within UNDP. He served as Assistant Administrator (Assistant Secretary-General), Director of Bureau of Management from 2012 to 2017. Mr. Wandel has also served in several management functions focusing on change initiatives, including as Director, Centre for Business Solution, as Management Adviser and Project Director for the Work Improvement Tools Project and as a country-level coordinator of UNDP’s New Horizon 2001 change management exercise.

Mr. Wandel has also held various leadership positions at the country level, including as United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Turkmenistan; UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Kyrgyzstan; and UNDP Assistant Resident Representative, Viet Nam. Mr. Wandel brings a combination of substantive programming knowledge and operational expertise covering both UNDP and United Nations agencies. He has been the architect of a major business re-engineering project for UNDP and provides strategic leadership to support the organization’s change agenda.

Mr. Wandel holds a Master of Arts equivalent in political science (development and public management), University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Executive Chairman, PVBLIC Foundation

Sergio is a world-leading expert on innovative public-private multistakeholder governance models, from shaping social initiatives, regulatory frameworks to smart city policy & programs. Chairman & Founder, PVBLIC Foundation, an organization focused on using media, technology & data to drive impact & change. Chairman & Founder of P3 Smart City Partners, a smart city & smart infrastructure, public-private partnership government advisory & investment company. Co-Founder & Executive Vice-Chair of the Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development a multi-sectoral framework to support the United Nations system.

In all of his work, he leads the global development and policy work behind structuring Public Private Partnerships (PPP) around smart infrastructure & policy framework with local, state + federal governments. In his philanthropic endeavors, as Chairman of PVBLIC he leads the foundations engagement with Governments from the White House to the United Nations and multinationals; public & private. Sergio has developed partnerships that today hosts the Latino Impact Summit, SDG Media Zone & Media For Social Impact Summit, Blockchain for Impact; all in collaboration with various UN agencies. The collective platforms all focus on raising awareness and encourage action for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Sergio has been celebrated locally and internationally for the work of his various business for over a decade. In 2012, Dell Inc. named Sergio one of its #Inspired 100 leading global influencers. In 2015 Meet LATAM recognized Sergio as Entrepreneurial Latin Global Leader & Influencer. In 2016 the Humanitarian Innovation Forum honored Sergio at the UN with the Global Social Impact Award. In November, Crain 's honored Sergio as a Visionaries ' finalist to the Hispanic Executive & Entrepreneur Award and he was most recently named top 3 most influential people, by the United Nations Social 500 list and in 2018 was celebrated as the Real Leaders magazine’s Top 100 Global Visionary Leaders

A graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor 's in Sociology, Sergio also completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Birthing of Giants® executive program.

Read Sergio’s full bio here.