Anne Lynam Goddard to Retire After 15 Years as ChildFund International President and CEO

Richmond, Virginia | May 27, 2021  ChildFund International has announced that Anne Lynam Goddard will retire in May 2022 after 15 years of leading the organization.

Goddard began her career in the Peace Corps in Kenya. After earning a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she joined the international humanitarian organization CARE and lived and worked overseas for almost 20 years.

She joined ChildFund as its eighth president and CEO in 2007, guiding the child-focused global nonprofit’s efforts to help vulnerable children find and create greater opportunity, hope and self-sufficiency. Building on the organization’s 80-year history, Goddard went on to lead a strategy that expanded and deepened ChildFund’s worldwide efforts to advance child protection and improve children’s health, education and economic conditions.

“Anne’s strong leadership over the last 15 years positioned ChildFund to rise to the challenges of last year and continue vital services to vulnerable children as the global pandemic threatened to reverse decades of gains for the world’s children,” says Lyn McDermid, ChildFund’s board chair. “Her fierce commitment to justice for children, combined with her deep understanding of what it takes for them to achieve their potential, continually drove ChildFund to aim ever higher in impact, efficiency and quality.”

“It has been the honor of my life to serve ChildFund these last 15 years,” says Goddard. “I never imagined myself as a CEO – I just wanted to make a difference in the world. When I saw firsthand the terrible injustices so many children are born into, I knew I had found my passion, which ultimately led me to ChildFund, and I’m so grateful. It’s the right time for ChildFund to seek new leadership. Personally, I am excited to explore new avenues where I might continue contributing to helping children and communities thrive.”

ChildFund has selected Russell Reynolds, an international search firm with a proven leadership advisory approach to executive leadership search and assessment, as their partner in the search for ChildFund’s ninth president and CEO. Qualified candidates can learn more at www.russellreynolds.com.

About ChildFund 
Founded in 1938, ChildFund works throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas — including the United States — to connect children with what they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are. Last year, we reached 13.6 million children and family members in 24 countries. About 200,000 Americans support our work by sponsoring individual children or investing in ChildFund programs. Find out more at www.ChildFund.org