Adrienne Germain

Since her pioneering work for women’s equality in the 1970s and 80s with the Ford Foundation, Adrienne Germain has reshaped global policy on women’s health and human rights. A skilled strategist and negotiator on U.S. government delegations to world conferences on population, women, and development from 1993 to 2000, she helped revolutionize the way the world views population policy and funding by making women’s sexual and reproductive rights and health central. Under Ms. Germain’s leadership, the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) has created international policy innovations, led global advocacy for sexual and reproductive rights and health, and helped build local organizations in countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the editorial board of Reproductive Health Matters, the board of BRAC-USA, two Human Rights Watch Advisory Committees, the Programme Committee of the 2008 Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, and UNDP’s Expert Group on Gender and AIDS Responses. She served on the Millennium Development Goals Project Task Force on Child Mortality and Maternal Health; received an Honorary Doctorate from Bard College in 2001; and was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York in 2005. She speaks and publishes extensively.