The United Nations Association of the United States of America or UNA-USA is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building understanding of and support for the ideals and work of the United Nations among the American people. Its education, policy and advocacy programs emphasize the importance of cooperation among nations and the need for American leadership at the UN. UNA-USA is affiliated with the World Federation of United Nations Associations, which began in 1946 as a public movement for the UN. It has 135 community based chapters across the United States, and programs on 5 continents.

The American Association for the United Nations, UNA-USA's predecessor organization, grew out of the League of Nations Association in 1943. A group of prominent citizens, including first Executive Director Clark Eichelberger, activated AAUN to promote acceptance of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals in the late years of World War II. Among the Association's early actions was a nationwide tour by a number of US representatives who set out to spread the word about these important proposals and to gain support for US adherence to the proposed new international organization-the United Nations.

Kathryn Bushkin Calvin (born July 16, 1949) is the chief executive officer of the United Nations Foundation. She joined the foundation in 2003, following a diverse career in politics, journalism, public relations, and business.

A native of Dayton, Ohio, Calvin graduated from Purdue University in 1971. She took a job with Kiplinger's Education Service in Washington, D.C., where she also became involved with a political group called the Democratic Forum, through which she met U.S. Senator Gary Hart. Hart hired her as his press secretary in 1976; she worked for him until 1984 and served as press secretary for his first presidential campaign that year.

Mort Zuckerman subsequently hired her as director of editorial administration for U.S. News and World Report, where she worked for twelve years, during which time the magazine went from third to first among the "big three" American news magazines. She went on to lead U.S. media relations for the public relations company Hill & Knowlton.

In 1997 Calvin joined America Online as senior vice president and chief communications officer. In 2001, following the AOL–Time Warner merger, she became the president of the newly-created AOL Time Warner Foundation. In that capacity, she also guided the company's other philanthropic activities and was the chief architect of the company's corporate responsibility initiatives. She reportedly earned millions of dollars from AOL stock and was described as one of the company's "most familiar" executives.

Gillian Martin Sorensen is a Senior Advisor at the United Nations Foundation, and is a national advocate on matters related to the United Nations and the United States-United Nations relationship, addressing audiences as diverse as Rotary International and the United States Air Force Academy; university students; staff and Members of Congress; journalists and leaders of civil society. In the last few years, she has made over 554 appearances, speaking about the United Nations and related issues.

Prior to this, Sorensen served in the United Nations as Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations, from 1997 to 2003, on appointment by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She was responsible for outreach to non-governmental organizations and was the contact point for the Secretary-General with parliamentarians, the academic world, religious leaders and other groups committed to peace, justice, development and human rights.

From 1993-1996, Sorensen served as Special Adviser for Public Policy on appointment by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali where her duties included directing the UN’s global Fiftieth Anniversary observances in 1995. In that role Sorensen led the planning of conferences, debates, documentaries, concerts and exhibits; the preparation of books and curricular materials, and the coordination of the UN50 Summit at in which l80 Presidents and Prime Ministers participated. As a public speaker, she often represented the World Organization in this country and abroad.

Jan Kenneth Eliasson (born 17 September 1940) is a Swedish diplomat and Social Democratic politician. He will become the UN Deputy Secretary-General on 1 July 2012.

Jan Eliasson was born in a working-class family in Gothenburg. He was an AFS exchange student in Indiana, United States, from 1957 to 1958 and was commissioned reserve officer after military training at the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962. In 1965 he earned a master's degree in economics from the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. He also holds honorary degrees from American University (1994), University of Gothenburg (2001) and Uppsala University (2005).

Eliasson has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles and is a frequent lecturer on foreign policy and diplomacy. Since 1988 he has been a visiting lecturer on mediation, conflict resolution and UN reform at Uppsala University.

Eliasson started his diplomatic career in 1965, when he was employed at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 1982 to 1983 he served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, and from 1983 to 1987 as Director General for Political Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.