Amy Fraenkel
Regional Director
Email: amy.fraenkel at unep.org

Amy Fraenkel has more than 25 years of experience in environmental law and policy. She has worked in both the executive and legislative branches of the United States government, inter-governmental organizations, and the private sector.

Amy joined the United Nations Environment Programme as Regional Director for North America in January, 2008. Prior to joining UNEP, Amy worked for six years with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation where she served as Senior Counsel of the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee. There she worked on legislation related to a wide range of issues, including climate change, ocean acidification, ship and land-based sources of pollution, marine mammals and sea turtles, and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Prior to working in the U.S. Senate, Ms. Fraenkel worked as a senior policy advisor in the Office of International Affairs within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She served on U.S. delegations and negotiated measures in UNEP, the International Maritime Organization, the World Trade Organization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Ms. Fraenkel also worked for seven years in private law practice on international and environmental issues at the firms Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton in New York, and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae in San Francisco.

Ms. Fraenkel graduated from Grinnell College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a concentration in environmental studies. She obtained her law degree from Harvard. She also holds a French language certificate from l'Institut Catholique de Paris.