Zak Bleicher

Global Coordinator - Agrifood Systems Accelerator

Zak Bleicher has spent over 20 years working at the intersection of social justice, climate action and the transformation of food systems — including within the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, the COP28 UAE Presidency, and across the wider UN system.

Zak is Global Coordinator of the Agrifood Systems (AFS) Accelerator, a demand-driven, partner-led mechanism co-led by FAO and GAIN that helps governments move from national food systems priorities to investable action. Bringing together UN agencies, development partners, financiers and the private sector behind country-led pathways, the Accelerator works through a three-step model — analysis, action planning and financing mobilization — to translate national priorities into investment-ready programmes and connect them to IFIs, DFIs and blended capital at scale. As Global Coordinator, Zak serves as the primary interface across the partnership’s governance, operations and Secretariat (the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub), guiding day-to-day delivery and leading engagement with partners and investors. Since its launch in early 2026, the Accelerator has grown to ten partner organizations and is supporting country engagements across Africa and Southeast Asia.

Previously, as Food Systems Lead in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, Zak provided strategic advice to UN leadership in relation to the 2025 UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4). He earlier served the COP28 UAE Presidency as Senior Advisor and Food Systems Lead, helping to lead consultations on the landmark COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, endorsed by 160 Heads of State and Government. As IFAD’s Representative and Head of Office at UN Headquarters in New York, he shaped the Fund’s global engagement on priorities including the 2030 Agenda, Financing for Development and the G20, and from 2020 to 2022 he served in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General with a focus on the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.

Earlier in his career, Zak held positions within the UN Secretariat focused on non-state actors and global governance, with international NGOs and Foundations as well as in the legislature of the State of Michigan in the US.

Zak holds an MS in Organizational Change Management from The New School and a dual BA in International Relations and Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University.