Amb. Karen Kornbluh
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Karen Kornbluh was sworn in as Ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in August, 2009.

Ambassador Kornbluh served as Policy Director for then-Senator Barack Obama from 2005-2008 and authored the 2008 party platform. Previously, she was Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Treasury Department; Assistant Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s International Bureau; Director of the Commission's Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs; and economic policy advisor to Senator John Kerry. She began her career as an economic forecaster and management consultant to US manufacturing companies.

Ambassador Kornbluh has published articles on economic policy in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic Monthly. She founded the Work and Family Program at the New America Foundation, where she was also a Markle Technology Policy Fellow. As a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress, she led the effort to create a Green Bank and contributed to “The Shriver Report: a Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.”

Ambassador Kornbluh received her Masters from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College.

Blog Entries by Amb. Karen Kornbluh

Waking Up to the Need for Education Reform

Posted March 15, 2011 | 13:49:52 (EST)

When the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development international education study showed the US coming in 14th in reading, 17th in science and a disappointing 25th in math, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called the results "a massive wake-up call." President Obama said in his State of...

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Global Gender Action Plan to Increase Equity and Growth

Posted November 4, 2010 | 17:20:09 (EST)

For all the progress women have made around the world, too many "gaps" persist -- the wage gap, poverty gap, education gap, technology gap, access-to-capital gap. By closing those gender gaps, we can increase both equity and growth -- and do it without breaking the bank.

In a world...

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The World's Women Are Still Left Behind

Posted March 8, 2010 | 19:42:15 (EST)

"Women are just men without money." On International Women's Day it is worth remembering Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson's 1975 quip because, sadly, it's still relevant today. Only 30 percent of the world's formal workforce is made up of women. Women make only 10 percent of world's income and own...

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