Betty King

Betty King "served as the United States ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations from 1997 through 2001. In that capacity Ambassador King supervised and coordinated the activities of the United States in that Council and in the UN General Assembly. She represented US interests in a wide range of issues including development, population, refugees, HIV/AIDS, the environment, women, children and the aged, and in the participation of non governmental organizations in that inter governmental body. She was the principal negotiator for several UN conventions, led the US delegation on related foreign missions and served on the executive boards of the UN Funds and Programmes i.e. United Nations Children's Fund, the UN Development and Population Funds.

"Ms King currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the CEO of the California Endowment, the largest health philanthropy in California. She is primarily responsible for guiding the development of programs, policies and communications strategies that would meet the foundation’s objective to reduce disparities in access to health care. She is also charged with creating further opportunities for funding through the creation of partnerships.

"From 1990 to 1997 Ms King was Vice President and Director of Operations at the Annie E Casey Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children and families. There she supervised and managed the foundation’s fiscal, administrative and grants management programs and the development and implementation of its communications, health and mental health initiatives.

"Ms King has extensive experience in state and local government. In the District of Columbia she planned and managed the transfer of St. Elizabeth’s hospital from federal to local control, the subsequent dramatic reductions in inpatient populations and the concurrent development of community based alternative systems of care. In the state of Arkansas she directed the department on Aging and Adult Services, taught at the University of Arkansas and developed gerontology programs at the University of Arkansas School of Medical Sciences.

"Ms King has worked with non profit organizations in several capacities. She served as the Executive Director of The Southwest Society on Aging in Dallas, Texas, and was a member of several boards including Grantmakers in Health, The Academy for Educational Development and the Center on Mental Health Services at the National Institutes on Mental Health.

"Born in St. Vincent, West Indies, Ms King did her undergraduate studies in Canada and graduate studies at the State University of New York and at the University of Michigan. She was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at Harvard University. She has one son, Erik." 


 * Emeritus Director, Refugees International
 * Advisory Board, USC Center on Public Diplomacy
 * Former Council member, President's Interagency Council on Women