Laurel Patterson is the Director of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) integration portfolio at the UN Development Programme (UNDP), leading policy innovation to accelerate the SDGs across 130 countries and territories. She was previously UNDP’s Senior Global Advisor for the SDG achievement in fragile and crisis contexts. Ms. Patterson held senior global policy advocacy roles, as UNDP Deputy Director for Partnerships and Deputy Director for UN Affairs, and several UN field-based assignments in Somalia, Zimbabwe, Burundi and Angola. Before UNDP, she was the Associate Director of International Affairs at Simon Fraser University in Canada, where she led the university’s international development portfolio. Laurel began her career with UN Women in Southern Africa, as part of their flagship women, peace and security portfolio. Laurel has a MPhil Degree in International Relations, Cambridge University, UK. She lives in New York with her husband and three children.