Christiana Figueres was appointed executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 and was reappointed for a second three year term in July 2013. Figueres has been involved in climate change negotiations since 1995. Initially a member of the Costa Rican negotiating team, she also serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism and vice-president of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties from 2008 to 2009. In 1995 she founded the Centre for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA), a non-profit think tank for climate change policy and capacity-building, which she directed until 2003. Prior to this, Figueres served as director of the Technical Secretariat, Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) in 1994, chief of staff to the Minister of Agriculture from 1988 to 1990, and director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Planning in Costa Rica from 1987 to 1988. She has served on many boards of non-governmental organizations involved in climate change issues. Figueres is a widely published author on the design of climate solutions, has been a frequent adviser to the private sector, and lectures at many universities and colleges. She holds a Master’s degree in anthropology from the London School of Economics and a certificate in Organizational Development from Georgetown University.