Suzanne Petroni

Petroni is Public Health Institute's first vice president for global health, a position that reflects the organization's growing international thrust. With two decades of service in the government, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, she is a respected leader, thinker and speaker on a range of global health concerns, including reproductive health and rights, adolescent health, population and women's issues, and climate change. At PHI, Petroni will be designing and implementing a global health strategic plan, expanding the organization's global health projects, managing its global health staff and recruiting new personnel. "The need to improve public health throughout the Global South is tremendous, but this challenge is being matched by the commitment of the U.S. and other world leaders," Petroni said. "With its focus on innovation, systems strengthening and community engagement, and with a particular emphasis on the health of women and girls, PHI is ideally situated to help realize this commitment through deepening and expanding its global health work." Before joining PHI, Petroni administered millions of dollars in grants for international reproductive and adolescent health and rights at the Summit Foundation. As chair of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, she led an association of more than 60 U.S.-based donors. She founded and led a consortium of foundations and bilateral and multilateral agencies to advance young people's access to sexual and reproductive health worldwide. Petroni spent nearly a decade in the federal government, working closely with various United Nations agencies, foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations. She received a master's degree in foreign service from Georgetown University and is a PhD candidate in gender and social policy at the George Washington University.