Dr. Susan M. Blaustein is Founder and Executive Director of WomenStrong International, a global non-profit that builds gender equality by partnering with grassroots women-led organizations to achieve lasting change for the girls and women they serve. Through our collective learning and sharing, WomenStrong is building a global network of organizations advancing the rights and well-being of women and girls worldwide.
Dr. Blaustein teaches sustainable urban development through a gender lens at Columbia University’s Climate School. Prior to WomenStrong, Dr. Blaustein co-founded and directed The Millennium Cities Initiative, a project of Columbia’s Earth Institute, committed to sustainable urban development across sub-Saharan Africa.
Before Millennium Cities, Dr. Blaustein served as an analyst for The International Crisis Group and reported on conflict economic development from Southeast Asia.
Her doctorate is from Yale University. She was a Harvard Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, and a Guggenheim Fellow. She was honored in 2018 with the Ban Ki-moon Award for Women’s Empowerment from Asia Initiatives, and Women’s eNews, which recently chose Dr. Blaustein as one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century.”