Sarah Mendelson
Distinguished Professor and Head, Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College; Scholar; Author; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Counsel of the United Nations
Sarah Mendelson is Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy and Director of Sustainable Futures at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, where she has served since 2018. Sworn in October 2015 as U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Ms. Mendelson has also spent over 30 years working on development, democracy, and human rights as a scholar and practitioner inside and outside of government. Prior to her appointment as Ambassador, she served as a deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development and was the agency lead on combating human trafficking. She also served as senior adviser and inaugural director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Ms. Mendelson is the author of over 100 scholarly and public policy publications.
“With so much money being made and so many people involved, it is disheartening that the movement to end modern-day slavery has not yet reached a tipping point. I am hopeful the Global Goals that the international community signed on to in 2015 present an enormous opportunity to grow the movement.”