Executive Director of PhilanthropyUnited Nations Foundation
Mary-Frances Wain serves as Executive Director of Philanthropy for the United Nations Foundation. As the organization’s chief resource development officer, Mary-Frances partners with transformative philanthropists who wish to have a global impact through support of the United Nations and its work to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.
Mary-Frances joined UNF in February 2012, bringing more than 20 years of not-for-profit management experience with a successful track record of “matchmaking” investors with effective agents of the change they wish to make in the world. Mary-Frances has specific expertise in organizational sustainability and resource development for initiatives focused on women’s empowerment and at-risk audiences.
Mary-Frances previously served as Vice President of Philanthropy for the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of the Mid-Atlantic. Mary-Frances also headed a nonprofit consulting company specializing in organizational capacity building. Mary-Frances also served as executive director of Suited for Change, where she launched a national coalition of collaborative NGOs, and as director of corporate relations for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, community relations manager for Neiman Marcus, and education manager for the American Advertising Federation, where she helped to establish the American Advertising Foundation.
Mary-Frances is an alumnus of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She regularly speaks at industry conferences and events and serves on advisory committees and boards for several DC-area NGOs. She is an avid runner, “plays” mandolin banjo, and resides in Washington, DC with her husband, their 11-year old son and his three-year-old labradoodle.