Caryl M. Stern

Caryl M. Stern, a longtime child advocate and civil rights activist, was named the President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in May 2007. Preceding this, she served as Chief Operating Officer and then Acting President for a short time. She is responsible for providing leadership to all aspects of the day-to-day work of the organization in the National Office as well as the five Chapter Offices. Prior to this, Ms. Stern served as the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Associate National Director for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

A leader in anti-bias education, training and outreach, as well as providing a voice on behalf of the rights of children, she served as the ADL’s Director of Education and founding Director of its award-winning A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute. 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). A frequent contributor to magazines and journals, she regularly appears on national news programs and is quoted by the media.

Caryl has traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and in Israel, where she has conferred with leaders in civil rights, government and education. She has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice in crafting national education policy, and has participated in several White House education and anti-bias initiatives. Caryl is an accomplished public speaker and has presented at over 300 conferences, conventions, meetings, and classrooms in the United States, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Poland, and the former Soviet Union.

Earlier in her career, Caryl spent a decade in higher education administration and teaching. Serving on the faculty of Manhattanville College’s Graduate School of Professional Studies, Stern also served as the Dean of Students at Polytechnic University (New York) and National Chairperson of the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), an organization representing over 1,000 colleges and universities. She was a recipient of the Founder’s Award, the NACA’s highest professional honor, and the New York City Harmony Award. She is a former chairperson of the Borough of Brooklyn's Unity Task Force. Currently, Stern serves on the Boards of the WE ARE FAMILY Foundation and the Martin Luther King Memorial Project Foundation.

In addition to her professional experience, Caryl is married with three sons (Brian, Lee and James) and one granddaughter, Annabelle. She was named as one of “25 Moms We Love” by Working Mother Magazine in December 2000 and honored as a Women of Empowerment by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in June 2008.

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