Biography: IOM Deputy Chief of Staff

Kristin Marie Dadey

Kristin Marie Dadey assumed the post of Deputy Chief of Staff at the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023. In her role, she is part of IOM’s Executive Office, which facilitates the development and strengthening of IOM’s management capacity and ensures that Headquarters and Field structures respond adequately to the expectations from various stakeholders and addresses organizational challenges.

Most recently, Kristin served as Special Adviser to the Deputy Director General for Management and Reform from February 2022 to September 2023.

Kristin held the post of Chief of Mission for IOM in the Philippines from 2018 to 2022. Her work was underpinned by responsive and flexible programming and partnerships addressing long-standing migration governance opportunities and challenges, as well as emerging trends and needs among vulnerable migrant populations.

She has worked with IOM for nearly 20 years, designing and implementing strategies to manage migration in emergency, post-crisis and development contexts. Kristin began working for IOM Indonesia, where she was instrumental in setting up IOM’s disaster response to the 2004 tsunami in Banda Aceh. After Indonesia, she worked with IOM Missions in Egypt and Georgia, where she focused on combatting human trafficking, establishing migrant protection services and protocols for survivors of trafficking and migrants in vulnerable situations. Prior to her appointment in the Philippines, Kristin served in Cambodia where she worked with the Government and the private sector to build skills development programmes for migrant workers. 

Before joining IOM in 2003, Kristin practiced law in Washington, DC. Kristin, an American national, holds a Juris Doctor and Master’s degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University’s College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Kristin is married and has four daughters. 

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