Freedom House Executive Board Selects Free Expression Champion and Global Advocate Suzanne Nossel as President and CEO

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Oct 31, 2024, 11:45 ET

Nossel will assume leadership of the international nonprofit on January 7, 2025.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Freedom House Executive Board, co-chaired by Jane Harman and Wendell Willkie II, today announced that, following a nationwide search, it has selected Suzanne Nossel to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Freedom House, the international nonpartisan nonprofit that works to expand and defend freedom around the world.

"We are honored and delighted that Suzanne is joining Freedom House," said Harman, former nine-time congresswoman from California. "She has had an exceptional career including senior roles in and outside of government and is a battle-tested leader known for her vision, drive, and willingness to stand up for principle."

"Suzanne is a proven leader with a track record of launching groundbreaking initiatives, bringing deep insight and conviction to her work, and marshaling resources behind critical missions," said Willkie, Freedom House co-chair. "The Executive Board is excited to work with her to chart a course for Freedom House at a time of increasingly serious challenges for the cause of freedom around the world."

Nossel most recently served for 11 years as Chief Executive Officer of PEN America. Under Nossel's leadership, the organization, which celebrates and defends free expression worldwide, vastly expanded its programs, staff, budget, and impact. Her service in international human rights organizations includes Chief Operating Officer at Human Rights Watch and Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. Nossel also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and Deputy to the US Ambassador for UN Management and Reform at the US Mission to the United Nations. Nossel is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All and Is Free Speech Under Threat? Her full bio is here.

"I am tremendously honored to lead an organization with Freedom House's extraordinary track record at the forefront of fighting tyranny in all its forms," said Nossel. "I have been a huge admirer of Freedom House and am now elated to join the extraordinary team and help rally behind freedom at a time of enormous and intensifying pressures."

Harman and Willkie, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, thank Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, who has been serving as interim president of Freedom House since May of this year and will continue until Nossel's arrival. The entire Board is deeply grateful for her strong and steady leadership and strategic thinking and looks forward to her continued outstanding contributions to Freedom House and its mission.

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. It informs the world about threats to freedom, mobilizes global action, and provides direct support to democracy's defenders. The storied nonprofit organization was founded in 1941 to mobilize policymakers and a broadly isolationist American public to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany and the fascist threat to American security and values. In the decades since, Freedom House has established itself through its advocacy, programs, and research as the leading nonpartisan American organization devoted to the support and defense of freedom around the world.

SOURCE Freedom House