Caryl M. Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, will be the keynote speaker for Bowie State University’s 2012 spring commencement ceremony on May 18, 2012. UNICEF is a global humanitarian relief organization providing children with health care and immunizations, clean water, nutrition and food security, education, emergency relief and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF’s humanitarian relief work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States.
A committed champion for children, Ms. Stern joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in 2006 as chief operating officer and served as acting president before assuming her current position in May 2007. Previously, she served as chief operating officer and senior associate national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and prior to that had a ten-year career in higher education, most recently as a Dean at Polytechnic University in New York.
Ms. Stern is a member of the Boards of the United Nations International School, WE ARE FAMILY Foundation and the Martin Luther King Memorial Project Foundation, as well as an advisory board member of the WNBA. She is the co-author of Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice (Scholastic, 2000) and Future Perfect: A Model for Professional Development (NACA, 1987).
In December 2000, Ms. Stern was named one of "25 Mothers We Love" by Working Mother Magazine. In 2009, she was honored with the "Empowering Woman Award" from the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the "Woman of Influence" award by the Jewish Women's Foundation. In 2010, she was named a "Role MOMel" by Moms and the City on NYDailyNews.com.
Ms. Stern holds a Bachelor's degree from SUNY Oneonta, where she was named "Outstanding Alumna" and has a Master's degree from Western Illinois University. She has also completed the course work towards a Ph.D. in higher education at Loyola University in Chicago.
Ms. Stern has served as a charter member of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Kiwanis Club since September 2010.
Ms. Stern is married and has 3 sons and a granddaughter.
