Ertharin Cousin, 55, has been involved in food and hunger issues for 25 years, holding executive roles in the Clinton Administration, retail chain Albertsons, U.S. nonprofit Feeding America and the United Nations. Now she takes on her biggest challenge yet, as the newest executive director of the World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian organization in the world.
The American lawyer based in Rome, Italy, leads a staff of nearly 15,000 employees annually helping 100 million people in 78 nations go to bed with food in their stomachs. She also debuts at No. 69 on this year's FORBES list of the world's 100 most powerful women. I sat down with Cousin to find out what this new responsibility means to her and to the world.
Jenna Goudreau: In April you were named executive director of the World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian organization in the world. How does it feel?
Ertharin Cousin: It is exciting. It is daunting. It is a blessing. To take all the experiences I've had in my career?from my community service work as a young person, my legal career, my work in the U.S. national food assistance programs, my government expertise and my role as a diplomat?to tie all that up into the opportunity to feed 100 million people a year is nothing less than the opportunity of a lifetime for me.
Hunger affects one in seven people globally. How much awareness is there in the US and are we doing enough?
Unfortunately, not enough. That's a big part of my role, working with others to raise awareness about the opportunity we have to ensure that children don't go to bed hungry; that children aren't stunted because they're filling their stomachs with food that doesn't provide them with the micronutrients they need to lead happy, healthy lives.
We can make a difference in the lives of these children. The people in the United States are some of the most generous people in the world. We saw it in Haiti. We saw it with Katrina. When devastation strikes, American people want to step up. All we need to do is help them understand there's a challenge and an opportunity to make a difference.
What are your top priorities for the WFP this first year and during your tenure?
In my first year, my top priorities are ensuring that the WFP is aligned operationally in order to support our move from food aid to food assistance. [That means] providing not just aid to those in need, but providing them the tools so they can ultimately feed themselves. Over my five-year mandate, it is to ensure that we're building capacities in the countries, so that WFP can begin handing over the work that we perform to the governments and communities we serve.
It's no understatement to say this is a big job?nearly 15,000 employees helping 100 million people all over the world. What is the hardest part?
The hardest part about this job is recognizing that I don't have all the answers. You don't get to this point in your career if you haven't been a problem solver. I'm not going to have all the answers. That was a stark realization for me. What it has required me to do is surround myself with experts and to learn to listen more.
This year, you were named to the FORBES list of the world's 100 most powerful women. Do you think of yourself as a powerful person?
I consider myself a persuasive person. With the ability to persuade comes a certain level of power. I can't sing or dance. One of my strengths is my ability to talk and communicate with people. To have the opportunity now to use that strength to build a public will takes a certain amount of power. I recognize that that does provide me with a power to create change we need to feed the global community.
How do you define power?
Power is an opportunity to make change. If you have power and you're not using it to make change, then it's a waste.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I am not an autocratic leader. To empower others and keep people who are smart and experienced requires the ability to listen, to engage and to harness the collective value of having all those different perspectives around the table.
That's the only kind of leadership I think you can have when you're leading a globally diverse organization where, in many cases, men aren't accustomed to having women lead. But they are willing to accept a woman who's leading them when they believe their voices are heard and their opinions are driving solutions. You take cultural differences and make them an asset for the organization.
Do feel responsible for being a positive role model for women?
Everyday. When I became a lawyer in 1982, a well-meaning professor said to me right before I graduated that I needed to look like a man because it was important that I not allow the fact that I was a woman detrimentally impact my ability to represent a client. There were no bright colors, no big jewelry and the horrible little bow ties. You wore gray and black suits. I remember the first time I interviewed for a corporate job in a red dress. I was confident enough that I could reflect who I am.
Now there's an entire group of younger women who've come up behind us who see us and recognize there is a different way of doing it. I can be myself. As long as I deliver every single day, the fact that I'm a woman can also be an asset to me. That's my responsibility to demonstrate to young women every single day.
What are the biggest challenges about being a powerful woman?
Recognizing you can't do it all. And that's hard. You learn that most of the time it's about sacrifice. ?No, I can't' is one of the toughest sentences any woman must learn in order to truly become powerful and comfortable in her own skin. It's okay to not do everything.
Who are your role models?
My mother, Madeleine Albright, Alexis Herman?Hillary Clinton. She was a major supporter of mine. When the administration began to talk about the opportunity, she was the first person to say: ?Why not Ertharin? She would do a great job.' It was with her support that I was identified to the President as a candidate. It's her spirit and style of leadership that I think: If I'm doing half as good as she is, I'm doing pretty good.
You're from Chicago. Do you know the Obamas?
I do. I don't hang out with the Obamas. I consider them friends. They lived in my neighborhood. I would see Michelle at the grocery store when she was pregnant with the girls and him running to get milk and riding his bike around the lake. It was always a casual relationship. Recently I had the opportunity to meet with him and say thank you- because I would not have had this opportunity had he not had the confidence in me to nominate me. When I sat down with him, they took pictures. About a week after I started as executive director the picture came in and all he had written was: ?I'm proud of you. ?Barack.' I was really proud.
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