Executive Director, United to Beat Malaria
Margaret McDonnell is the Executive Director of United to Beat Malaria, a global grassroots campaign of the United Nations Foundation. United to Beat Malaria (Beat Malaria) brings together a diverse set of partners, influencers and supporters across the U.S. and around the world to take urgent action to end malaria, a disease that kills a child every minute. In her role, Margaret leads strategy and oversees the campaign’s full portfolio including constituent-led advocacy, fundraising, communications, grant-making, and strategic partnerships. Beat Malaria (previously known as Nothing But Nets) has helped protect more than 40 million people from malaria by providing life-saving tools and supporting health workers, with a focus on the most vulnerable to include young children, pregnant women and families who have been displaced due to conflict and climate change. Further, Beat Malaria has educated and mobilized constituents across the U.S. to successfully advocate for increased bipartisan leadership and funding for global malaria programs such as The Global Fund, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and the UN.
Before joining the UN Foundation, Margaret ran strategic partnerships and helped lead the grassroots engagement and advocacy portfolio with the ONE Campaign, covering a wide range of global health and poverty issues. She worked with UNICEF in Botswana to develop media and civil society engagement strategies to further children’s rights within the context of the HIV epidemic and as a consultant for the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival to identify and implement advocacy and coalition-building best practices. Margaret has a Master’s in Public Policy with a focus on global health from George Mason University and has a broad range of experience in international development, non-profit fundraising, political communications, and issue-based campaigning including in Alaska. She and her husband have three kids so she is particularly passionate about ensuring that all children – regardless of where they are born – have a healthy start to life.
