Cindy Hensley McCain was born and raised in Phoenix. She holds an undergraduate degree in education and an MA in Special Education from the University of Southern California. She once taught at Agua Fria High School in Avondale. She is Chair of the family-owned business, Hensley & Co. The widow of Senator John McCain of Arizona, she now serves as director of the UN World Food Programme, having previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from 2021 to 2023.

 

Cindy has dedicated her life to helping those who cannot help themselves, be they here in the USA or in far regions of the world.  She is an advocate in the fight against human trafficking and is a champion for human rights. As Chair of the Board of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University, she oversees the organization’s focus on advancing character-driven global leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom, and dignity for all.

 

She also co-chairs the Institute’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council, its mission being to end the trafficking of humans in Arizona, throughout the United States, and around the world. Through her work, partnerships have been formed with anti-trafficking organizations trying to solve various aspects of this global problem. Cindy also served as co-chair of the Arizona Governor’s Council on Human Trafficking. She worked with others to help craft legislation, passed by the Arizona Legislature, against human traffickers. The law has become a model for a number of states across the country to create their own anti-trafficking legislation.

 

Her more recent work with the World Food Programme has focused on the disruption in global food supply caused by drought, the COVID-19 pandemic, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the effects of climate change on agriculture. She remains a passionate advocate for populations around the world who lack vital resources.

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