Isobel Coleman
New York
Isobel Coleman is an author, foreign policy expert, consultant and former diplomat who served as one of the United States’ ambassadors to the UN during the Obama Administration. For decades, her research, writing and public speaking have focused on the economic, social and political benefits of empowering women and girls. She is the author of numerous publications, including the critically acclaimed book Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East (Random House, 2010). Prior to her time with the State Department, Isobel was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) where she was the founding director of CFR’s Women and Foreign Policy Program. She started her career with McKinsey & Co., providing strategy and management consulting to leading global financial institutions and becoming a partner in 1998. She holds a BA degree from Princeton University and MPhil and DPhil degrees from Oxford University which she attended as a Marshall Scholar. She serves on several boards and advisory councils.