Mark Hereward is UNICEF’s first Chief Data Officer, appointed in January 2022 in UNICEF Headquarters to pave the organization’s path and oversee efforts to strengthen UNICEF’s position as a leader on responsible data for children. The Chief Data Office’s (CDO) mission is to bring coherence to UNICEF’s data efforts, and to strengthen collaboration on data across UNICEF and partners for more efficient and effective data-informed decision making. The focus is on decision-making in UNICEF’s 130 country offices, during humanitarian crises and other emergencies as well as more routine operations that form part of country development efforts. The CDO aspires to create an organization-wide culture of smart data use, underpinned by efforts to strengthen quality data supply, to realize the potential of data to transform the lives of children and women including the role of data as an accelerator of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The CDO works with internal partners from across UNICEF at country, regional, and global levels and external partners from across governments, civil society, and the private sector. Since 1995, Mr. Hereward has served UNICEF in various capacities, including Deputy Regional Director for UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa and UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan. In previous roles, he provided leadership and technical guidance to teams which collect, analyze, store, and make public data and statistics on the situation of children and women. His experience working across countries, cultures, and varying levels of digital and data maturity informs his approach to data governance at UNICEF HQ with the objective to enable smart data use across contexts and maturity levels. Mr. Hereward has a bachelor’s degree in Chinese and Economics and a master’s degree in Medical Demography from the University of London, UK. He also has a master’s degree in Demography and a Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.