Governance
UNICC is governed by a Management Committee (MC) comprised of one representative from each Partner Organization. The MC elects a Chairperson and a Vice-Chair for a renewable term. The MC meets twice a year in plenary sessions.
All Partner Organizations participate in UNICC’s governance through the Management Committee, sharing responsibility for key decisions, providing guidance in devising UNICC’s strategic direction and approving the Centre’s budget, financial reports and services rates.
An Advisory Group, consisting of select MC members, works throughout the year with the UNICC Director to:
- Undertake preliminary work on topics of interest for the MC
- Provide advice on MC agendas and documentation
- Make recommendations on items presented for decision to the MC.
Management
Executive Committee
The Director and Senior Management team carry out the day-to-day management of UNICC.
Sameer Chauhan
Milena Grecuccio
Marco Liuzzi
Dimitra Ralli
Anish Sethi
Tima Soni
Sameer Chauhan
Director
The Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Sameer Chauhan to the post of Director, UNICC as of 1 December 2019. Sameer was already serving as the Director (Interim) since August 2018.
The UNICC Director is directly accountable to the UNICC Management Committee that governs the organization. The Director has the responsibility to lead all aspects of UNICC’s strategy and operations, to facilitate the provision of services to more than 80 Clients and Partner Organizations and to establish an UNICC strategy, develop a two- to four-year business plan and budget, and to implement the approved plan.
Sameer joined UNICC in August 2015 in New York as Chief, Clients and Projects. In this capacity, he was responsible for product development, for the CRM function, for project delivery of all Client and internal projects, and also as the administrative head of the New York office of UNICC.
Sameer has over twenty years of prior experience in both public and private sectors and an educational background in Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Before UNICC, Sameer was the Head of Knowledge Management and Digital Marketing IT for Deutsche Bank Asset and Wealth Management. He played several roles at Deutsche Bank over eight years, including being the COO for an IT division of approx. 800 staff and externals as well as being the product manager responsible for developing and delivering on the online platform strategy for a multi-billion-dollar trading platform for DB Prime Brokerage.
Prior to Deutsche Bank, Sameer spent several years as a consultant for Deloitte working across various industries including financial services, public sector, telecom, manufacturing and software. He started his career as an IT developer in the U.S. public sector, developing child and family welfare systems for various U.S. state governments.
Milena Grecuccio
Chief of Staff and Chief, Management and Strategy Division
Milena joined UNICC in 2013 as Head, Governance, Risk and Compliance and QA Manager, where she built the function from the ground up and led various initiatives that raised the profile of the organization in risk management, corporate compliance, quality, audit readiness, overall standardization and optimization of operations and processes.
As Chief of Staff and Chief of the Management and Strategy Division, Milena provides direction and guidance around the delivery of the UNICC mandate, covering strategy implementation, business performance, HR, Strategic Partnerships, External Relations and overseeing Procurement & Administration, in strict adherence with applicable rules, regulations and audit requirements.
She supports the Director in leading key business transformation initiatives and in reporting UNICC progress towards achievement of objectives to oversight bodies.
Prior to joining UNICC, Milena worked in the “Big 4” risk and consulting business, with Deloitte and then KPMG. She managed and delivered numerous engagements in the area of Information Technology governance, risk management, internal control, information security, service continuity, across multiple countries. During this time, she also served as Board Member of the Swiss Chapter of ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) in charge of the French speaking regions.
Milena has a Master’s in Business Information Systems and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC) of the University of Lausanne. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in Sustainability Management from the University of Geneva and is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).
Marco Liuzzi
Chief, Digital Delivery
Marco was appointed Chief, Digital Delivery Division (previously called Clients and Projects Division) in October 2022. Marco was previously appointed Chief, Operations in October 2020 and was already serving as Acting Chief, Operations since January 2017.
The Chief of Operations role provides strategic leadership and oversight to UNICC in regard to technology operations matters. This means leading the Operations Division, providing support and guidance across all its sections and assists the Director in establishing UNICC’s work plan and strategic directions. Serves as a member of the UNICC Executive Committee and take shared responsibility for the work of that group, including the management of risk for the organization.
Marco joined UNICC in 2002 as a systems analyst to oversee the development of a software solution for a Partner Organization. Starting in 2007, Marco was selected as Head, Application Support Unit, providing operational management to the application support services for an UNICC Client. In 2011, Marco was Acting Chief, Brindisi Services, providing leadership to UNICC services from Brindisi, Italy. He was confirmed in this position newly redefined as Chief, Business Solutions Section, in July 2014.
Marco has a Master’s degree in computer engineering from University of Salento, Italy. Marco started his career in 1996 as software developer for the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations. From 1997 to 1998 he served as Network Manager in MONUA, the peacekeeping mission of the UN in Angola. He then went back to work at the UN base in Brindisi in developing, implementing and supporting software systems for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
A strong believer in the power of collaboration and leveraging collective wisdom in teams, Marco is humbled and thankful for the support he has received by his colleagues throughout his career. He feels privileged to be to able work for UNICC, and has always clear in his mind that UNICC’s work is nothing less than the support and enablement of the United Nations system and, ultimately, its values, which are indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.
Marco enjoys playing piano and can also be found on long runs and bike rides on country roads or sailing along the beautiful Apulian coast.
Dimitra Ralli
Chief, Operations (OIC)
Dimitra Ralli was appointed Officer-in-Charge Chief, Operations in December 2022. In this role, Dimitra provides strategic leadership and oversight of UNICC’s technology and operational segments. This includes leading the Operations Division, providing support and direction across all its sub-sections as well as assisting the Director in establishing UNICC’s work plan and strategic objectives.
Dimitra joined UNICC 25 years ago, bringing a wealth of international experience and UN system expertise. At UNICC she has held leadership positions for over 10 years in the Application Support and Service Management units, and has played a significant role on several successful transformational initiatives. She has also worked on projects with partners both on HQ and challenging field locations such as Kabul, Afghanistan.
Over the years, Dimitra has developed her competencies and expertise in service management and customer excellence, and has gained a solid and thorough understanding of the challenges and potentials of running an operations division. With her skills in communication and change management, Dimitra seeks to introduce and support innovative ideas and adoption of new ways of functioning efficiently to continue delivering value and growth.
Previous to UNICC, Dimitra worked as a business analyst and developer providing services to UNECE and OHCHR. Dimitra’s educational background is on Applied Informatics with specialization in computing, data processing and econometrics. Balancing her overall activities and interests, Dimitra practices Yoga extensively and is registered as a certified instructor by the Yoga Alliance association.
Anish Sethi
Chief, Digital Solutions Centre
Anish Sethi was appointed Chief of Digital Solutions Centre in October 2022. Anish was previously appointed Chief, Clients and Projects Division in October 2020 and was already serving as Chief, Clients and Projects Division since October 2018. In this role he was responsible for professional services at UNICC, including oversight of new services and products as well as development of strategic partnerships with technology and international development organizations. He led the Business Relationship Management function, which manages, strengthens and grows UNICC’s Client base. He also did head the Project Delivery unit responsible for managing and delivering all Client and UNICC projects, including all consulting engagements. Anish is the administrative head of the UNICC New York office.
Anish joined UNICC in 2005 and has been involved in several Client professional consulting engagements, including strategizing and managing cross-cultural teams to deliver large mission critical client services and project office initiatives.
Anish has over twenty-eight years of experience in the various aspects of information and communication technology businesses and has an educational background of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
Over the years, he has engaged in strategy and execution of professional services in the areas of Program and Portfolio Management, business and process management, enterprise architectures, portals, knowledge and search solutions, business intelligence solutions, team collaboration and messaging, and enterprise planning.
Tima Soni
Chief, Cybersecurity Division
Tima joined UNICC in 2016 as Head, Information Security Services. In 2019, she was appointed as Chief, Cybersecurity Division that oversees the security programme for UNICC and that delivers cybersecurity services to UNICC’s Partner Organizations. Tima oversees UNICC’s cybersecurity team of experts in New York, Valencia, Rome and Geneva for UNICC’s more than 40 subscribers to information security services. She has served as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for several UNICC Partner Organizations including UN Women, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and currently also serves as the CISO for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Tima has worked to develop and implement information security programmes by delivering various information security initiatives like information security governance, risk management, security operations and security awareness as per industry best practices. Tima strongly believes in collaboration and sharing of knowledge within the cybersecurity community and has spearheaded the development of many common cybersecurity solutions within the UN family. She has helped UNICC partner agencies in responding to complex cybersecurity incidents and developed cybersecurity roadmaps for many UNICC Partner Organizations. She oversees the delivery of several UNICC cybersecurity services that include the Common Secure threat intelligence network that UNICC runs within the UN system, the Common Secure Operations Centre, the common security testing services, the common cybersecurity incident response services as well as common UN PKI services.
Before joining UNICC, Tima worked for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) where she worked closely with the technical teams responsible for performing inspections in more than 190 member countries of OPCW to provide confidentiality and information security support. Before that, she worked for IBM to develop and deliver information security services to IBM customers.
Tima holds an MSc in Information Technology, MSc in Cyber Crime and Computer Forensic Investigations and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mathematics. Tima holds industry information security certifications CISSP, CISA, CISM, GCFA, GWAPT, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and Implementer. Tima received the Nobel Peace Laureate Award in 2012 for her contribution to the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons during the Syria crisis.
UNICC Transformation Team
The UNICC Transformation Team supports senior management across the areas of UNICC’s ongoing digital transformation, with select UNICC staff across all offices working with the Director on UNICC’s eleven transformation work streams. The UNICC Transformation Team includes Executive Committee members Sameer Chauhan, Milena Grecuccio, Marco Liuzzi, Anish Sethi and Tima Soni as well as the following members.
Yannis Arfaras
Matilde Gil
Prado Nieto
Shashank Rai
Yannis Arfaras
Controller & Chief, Business Control Section
Yannis joined UNICC in 2009 as Business and Financial Analyst. As UNICC’s Controller & Chief, Business Control Section, he is responsible for the strategic financial transformation of UNICC as well as the management of cost efficiencies and global profitability of the organization. Yannis and his team are future oriented and propose business plans to identify gaps, cost saving opportunities and efficiency gains in order to sustain the strategic organizational transformation of UNICC. Yannis graduated with a Master’s degree in Monetary and Financial Economics from the University of Geneva.
Matilde Gil
Head, Operation Business Infrastructure Unit
Mati joined UNICC in 2014 as network technician and was promoted to a network engineer position in the UNICC Infrastructure Support Unit. In 2019, she became head of the unit. Her role is to provide network engineering expertise, coupled with managerial functions, for services provisioned to the Department of Operational Support (UN DOS) and the UN Department of Peace Operations (UN DPO) field missions.
She helps in the strategic transformation of UNICC, in particular by collecting feedback from UNICC colleagues in Valencia and by helping to establish relationships with the Valencian community.
Mati holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. She started her career in 1996 in the private sector, working for IT vendors, ISP, Telcos and Unified Communication service providers.
Prado Nieto
Chief, Business Relationship Management Section
Prado joined UNICC in 2013 as Client Account Manager for North America Clients and Partner Organizations. As Chief of the Business Relationship Management Section, she leads the Business Development team that connects UNICC with its Clients to better understand their needs and engage suitable capacities and expertise to support them.
Prado and her team monitor Clients’ satisfaction and alignment of services and projects requested with those delivered as per the respective agreements.
Prado has more than 20 years of experience working for IT global corporations and international organizations in areas related to ICT business development, she graduated with a Master’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University in New York.
Shashank Rai
Chief Technology Officer
With over eighteen years in Information Technology industry, ranging from advising CEOs and business leaders on ICT strategy to complex technology work, Shashank’s core capabilities are to comprehend complex technologies and then apply it to business digital transformation.
With rich global management experience in the UN and elsewhere, he understands the dynamics of multi-national and multi-cultural teams. This sensitivity allows him to motivate people in adopting and embracing change; as modern technology plays a disruptive and transformative role.
Shashank manages the Strategic Consulting unit at UNICC and advises senior leadership across multiple Client organizations on a wide range of topics from traditional enterprise ICT (ERPs and cloud computing) to more transformational technologies like big data and cloud native computing.