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Mabel van Oranje
CEO, The Elders
Mabel van Oranje is the Chief Executive Officer of The Elders – an independent group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. She is also a founder and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
A global advocate on peace and justice issues for almost two decades, Mabel is a change-maker. She has developed a number of highly effective organisations and campaigns to raise public awareness and persuade the powerful – always with an eye to achieving real change for people on the ground.
In 1993, while still a student, she founded the European Action Council for Peace in the Balkans and was its CEO till 1997. She also co-founded the Dutch foundation War Child in 1995 and served on its board until 1999. In 1997, she joined the Open Society Institute in Brussels as Executive Director, becoming OSI’s International Advocacy Director in 2003. In 2008, she joined The Elders as their first CEO, establishing a team in London to support the Elders’ work.
Mabel has also been involved in the development of several important global advocacy initiatives. From 2002 to 2008, she played a key role in the creation and development of Publish What You Pay – a global NGO coalition that aims to tackle the ‘resource curse’ in developing countries by campaigning for greater transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from the oil, gas and mining industries. In 2003, Mabel helped found the Independent Commission on Turkey, remaining closely involved in its work until 2008. She was also actively engaged in global efforts that led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court in 2002.
Mabel holds master’s degrees in Economics and Political Science (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam. In 2005, the World Economic Forum named her one of its Young Global Leaders. She is author of ‘Publishing What We Learned: An Assessment of the Publish What You Pay Coalition’ (with Henry Parham; 2009) and ‘Building Donor Partnerships’ (with Terrice Bassler; 1997).
Mabel was born in the Netherlands and lives in London with her husband and two daughters.
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