Sarah Mendelson
Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy and Head of Heinz College in Washington, DC
Ambassador Sarah E. Mendelson served as the US Representative to the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations until January 20, 2017.
Confirmed by the Senate in October 2015, she was the USUN lead on international development, human rights, and humanitarian affairs. There she oversaw campaigns to get country-specific resolutions passed in the General Assembly and to get NGOs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, accredited to the UN. She led efforts to elevate the issue of combating human trafficking and was
Prior to her appointment as Ambassador, she served as a Deputy Assistant Administrator at USAID from 2010-2014 where she was the Agency lead on democracy, human rights, and governance. A
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of over 70 scholarly and public policy publications, Ambassador Mendelson received her BA in History from Yale University and her
Courses Taught
- 90-864 - Democracy Now & Next
- 90-883 - Democracy/Human Rights & Sustain Dev in 21st Century
- 90-858 - How Ideas Become Policy
Publications & Honors
- Room 16 Priorities Emerging from 2020 17 Rooms Exercise, (co-authored with Nancy Lindborg with input from Room 16 participants), November 2020, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/16.pdf
- Carnegie Mellon University 2020 Voluntary University Review, September 2020, https://www.cmu.edu/leadership/the-provost/provost-initiatives/cmu-vur-2020
- Inequalities, the SDGs, and the human rights movement in the US and around the world, June 12, 2020, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/06/12/inequality-the-sdgs-and-the-human-rights-movement-in-the-us-and-around-the-world
- The Virus and the Global Goals: What Could COVID-19 Mean for Sustainable Development, April 7, 2020, https://www.globaldashboard.org/2020/04/07/the-virus-and-the-global-goals-what-could-covid-19-mean-for-sustainable-development/
- The 'SDG Effect': The Emerging Pittsburgh Platform to Deliver the Global Goals Locally, January 30, 2020, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/01/30/the-sdg-effect-the-emerging-pittsburgh-platform-to-deliver-the-global-goals-locally/?utm_campaign=Global%20Economy%20and%20Development&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=83149721
- Foundations Should Invest in Building the Field of Sustainable Development, Winter 2020, Stanford Social Innovation Review, faculty-research/profiles/profiles/sarah-mendelson/ssir_winter2020-viewpoint-mendelson-sdgs.pdf
- How to Get Beyond the Doom and Gloom: Align OGP with the Sustainable Development Goals, Open Government Partnership (OGP), June 20, 2019, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/how-to-get-beyond-the-doom-and-gloom-align-ogp-with-the-sustainable-development-goals/
- US Cities Leading on the Sustainable Development Goals, Brookings, December 19, 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/12/19/us-cities-leading-on-the-sustainable-development-goals/
- Young People, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Liberal World Order: What is to be Done? NYU’s Center on International Cooperation (NYU/CIC), October 9, 2018, https://cic.nyu.edu/blog/young-people-sustainable-development-goals-and-liberal-world-order-what-be-done , Medium.com, https://medium.com/cic-international-insights/young-people-the-sustainable-development-goals-and-the-liberal-world-order-what-is-to-be-done-fc648e3b2d21
- Weaponizing Social Media: Heinz Experts on Troll Farms and Fake News, Heinz College News, October 2018 ( https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2018/October/troll-farms-and-fake-news-social-media-weaponization)
- The Putin Problem: Ambassador Mendelson Talks Policy, Propaganda, and Russian Politics, Heinz College News, October 2018 ( https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2018/October/the-putin-problem)
- We Need An Updated Approach to Combat Human Trafficking, The Hill, June 2018 (http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/394774-we-need-an-updated-approach-to-human-trafficking)
- A Research and Writing Grant As An Inflection Point In A Career, MacArthur Foundation, June 2018 (https://www.macfound.org/press/40-years-40-stories/research-and-writing-grant-inflection-point-career/)
Additional Information