THE HON. CHRISTOPHER BANCROFT BURNHAM

SENIOR ADVISOR
GOVERNMENT / DIPLOMACY / BANKING / PRIVATE EQUITY
WASHINGTON DC /GLOBAL

Mr. Burnham is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Global Capital. Mr. Burnham founded Cambridge after a distinguished career in government, diplomacy, banking, and private equity. Mr. Burnham is a globally recognized expert in the implementation of accountability and transparency, and the implementation of best practice in government, corporations, and inter-governmental organizations, having served as Under Secretary General for Management of the United Nations, Under Secretary of State for Management (acting), and Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of State.

At the U.S. Department of State, he built and led the implementation of performance measures down to the mission level while modernizing the global reporting system across 270 offices in 170 countries. As COO of the UN and a member of the cabinet of Kofi Annan, he instituted sweeping governance reforms including the establishment of the first UN Ethics Office, the first United Nations Independent Audit Advisory Committee, the adoption of new International Public Sector Accounting Standards, the first comprehensive consolidated annual report in the history of the United Nations, and a new whistleblower protection policy that received independent recognition as the “gold standard.” He also implemented best-in-class financial disclosure reporting by senior United Nations officials and staff based on the U.S. Government model, a first ever sexual harassment policy, and initiated a taskforce to investigate corruption within UN procurement that led to prosecutions and convictions by the U.S. District Attorney’s office of the Southern District of New York. Mr. Burnham has been confirmed twice by the United States Senate.

In addition, Mr. Burnham is the former Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Deutsche Asset Management where he co-founded and led Deutsche Bank’s direct private equity group, RREEF Capital Partners, the bank’s reentry into private equity after an eight-year absence. He also chaired Deutsche Bank’s asset management governance committee in Germany.

A combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps (Reserve) who retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Mr. Burnham volunteered for active duty in 1990 and served as an infantry platoon commander in the Gulf War. He and his men were part of the lead Allied forces to reach and liberate Kuwait City. Since 2013, Mr. Burnham has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Cambridge Global Capital, a venture capital investment firm focused on opportunities in life sciences, cyber and data security, and AI/data analytics.

Mr. Burnham studied national security policy at Georgetown’s National Security Studies Program, and is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, and Harvard University, where he earned an M.P.A. in 1990.