18 Facts About Suzanne Nossel

Suzanne F Nossel is a former government official, human rights advocate, author, and former CEO of PEN America.

Suzanne Nossel has served in a variety of leadership roles in the corporate, non-profit, and government sectors and led PEN America from 2013 - 2024.

Suzanne Nossel graduated from Harvard College in 1991 and Harvard Law School in 1996.

In 1997 Suzanne Nossel was awarded a Kauffman Fellowship for showing exceptional promise for a career in public interest law.

Early in her career, Suzanne Nossel was an associate in consumer and media practice at the consulting firm McKinsey and Company.

Suzanne Nossel later worked as Vice President of US Business Development for Bertelsmann Media and vice president of strategy and operations for the Wall Street Journal.

Suzanne Nossel served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs in 2009, where she was responsible for multilateral human rights, humanitarian affairs, women's issues, public diplomacy, press, and congressional relations.

Suzanne Nossel was the lead US negotiator in settling US arrears to the United Nations through a landmark consensus agreement reached by the UN's General Assembly.

Suzanne Nossel served as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA from January 2012 to January 2013.

Suzanne Nossel was chief operating officer at Human Rights Watch.

Suzanne Nossel has served as a Board Member of Tides Foundation, beginning in 2013, and still serving as of 2019.

Suzanne Nossel served as Chief Executive Officer of the literary and human rights organization PEN America from 2013 through October 31,2024, when she announced she was resigning to become President and CEO of Freedom House in early January 2025.

On December 30,2024, little more than a week before Suzanne Nossel was slated to become its new CEO, Freedom House issued a press release saying she had decided not to join the organization as planned, and that the organization would conduct a new presidential search.

Suzanne Nossel resigned from her role at Amnesty International USA after criticism by human rights organizations that she was using her role at the nonprofit to advocate for the use of war to cement US military dominance in Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere.

When Suzanne Nossel announced her resignation as CEO on October 31,2024, a number of writers claimed that their opposition to her tenure had forced the move; Suzanne Nossel disputed that.

Suzanne Nossel is the author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All in 2020, a set of principles to chart a course for free speech that promotes equity and inclusion.

Suzanne Nossel is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Politico, and The Guardian, among others.

Suzanne Nossel was born in Westchester, New York, the daughter of South African parents and granddaughter of refugees from Nazi Germany who fled to South Africa during the 1930s.