Ambassador Amanda Ellis leads Global Partnerships for the Arizona State University (ASU) Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and serves as the Co-Chair of the WE Empower United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Challenge and the ASU SDGs and Beyond Task Force. Previously New Zealand’s Head of Mission and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Francophone Africa (2013–2016), Ambassador Ellis played a key role in New Zealand’s successful UN Security Council bid. Prior to that as the Deputy Secretary International Development in the New Zealand Foreign Ministry, she was the first woman to head the New Zealand Aid Programme, managing a budget of more than $0.6 billion. A Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, Ambassador Ellis is the author of two best-selling Random House business books, the lead author of five research titles in the World Bank Directions in Development series, and the co-author of the 2020 Gender Equality and Governance Index.