Xenya Scanlon

Xenya Scanlon is the Chief of Communications, External Relations and Partnerships at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). She brings 20 years of experience on sustainability issues with the United Nations and other international organizations across Africa, Australia and Europe.

Before joining the UNCCD, Xenya led communications for the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, an alliance of 500 partners from governments, the private sector, research and academic institutions, and civil society. Prior to that, she was Director of Communications with the Right Livelihood Award Foundation and held various positions with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WWF.

She holds a master’s degree from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) University and is a Fellow of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) Programme. Xenya speaks English, French, Russian and Croatian, with some conversational Spanish and Italian.