Suzanne Nossel

Chief Executive Officer

Suzanne Nossel currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization, and she is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Since joining in 2013, she has doubled the organization’s staff, budget, and membership, spearheaded the unification with PEN Center USA in Los Angeles and the establishment of a Washington, D.C. office, and overseen groundbreaking work on free expression in Hong Kong and China, Myanmar, Eurasia, and the United States. She is a leading voice on free expression issues in the United States and globally, writing and being interviewed frequently for national and international media outlets. Her prior career spanned government service and leadership roles in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. During the first term of the Obama Administration, Nossel served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, where she led U.S. engagement in the United Nations and multilateral institutions, on human rights and humanitarian issues. During the Clinton Administration, Nossel was Deputy to the U.S. Ambassador for UN Management and Reform at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she was the lead negotiator in settling U.S. arrears to the world body. During her corporate career, Nossel served as Vice President of U.S. Business Development for Bertelsmann and as Vice President for Strategy and Operations for the Wall Street Journal. Nossel coined the term “Smart Power,” which was the title of a 2004 article she published in Foreign Affairs Magazine and later became the theme of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure in office. Nossel is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times, and dozens of other outlets, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Democracy, and other journals. Nossel served on the Board of Directors of the Tides Foundation until 2021. She is a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nossel is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

In 2021, Nossel was selected as a member of the Oversight Board, an independent body using human rights principles to adjudicate decisions on Facebook and Instagram. Read more about her appointment here.

Dare to Speak

A vital, necessary playbook for navigating and defending free speech today by the CEO of PEN America, Dare To Speak provides a pathway for promoting free expression while also cultivating a more inclusive public culture.

Cited in “Symbiotic Security and Free Speech” by Michael J. Glennon.

Recent Publications & Appearances

2024

Don’t Downplay Risks of AI for Democracy
Just Security, August 28, 2024

The Fate of American Democracy Depends on Free Speech
American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Summer 2024

Digital Diplomacy’s New Dawn—Decoding Foreign Disinformation and Fostering Resilience
Council on Foreign Relations, May 31, 2024

Suzanne Nossel on “The Real Culture Wars” Between Democracy and Autocracy
Amanpour and Company, March 7, 2024

The Real Culture Wars Between Democracy and Autocracy
Foreign Affairs, February 29, 2024

Is the solution to offensive speech more speech?
PBS, February 22, 2024

How universities can restore free speech and constructive conversations
Boston Globe, February 12, 2024

Threats to free speech
PBS, February 11, 2024

DEI and free speech can go hand in hand
CNN, January 13, 2024

2023

2022

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2020

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2016

2015


Articles by Suzanne Nossel

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Thursday May 16

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel’s Remarks at the 2024 Literary Gala

At the 2024 PEN America Literary Gala, CEO Suzanne Nossel spoke about four basic principles that define PEN America’s work.

Monday October 4

An Update from PEN America Los Angeles

Michelle Franke will be stepping down from her role on October 8 to become Executive Director of Humanitas, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles.

Global Free Expression
Thursday July 1

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel Testifies on Censorship and Free Speech Issues in China

“The regime’s determination to hunt down dissenters wherever they are instills a sense of fear from which there is no escape, even far beyond Saudi borders.”