Penny Abeywardena Joins the de Blasio Administration as the Head of the Office of International Affairs

 

Penny Abeywardena, who currently serves as the Clinton Global Initiative Director of Girls & Women Integration, will be named International Affairs Commissioner Tuesday. She will be in charge of dealing with the diplomatic community for City Hall.

 

During her time at CGI, she led the growth of girls & women related commitments; advised multinational corporations, philanthropists, NGOs, and multilateral institutions to increase investments in gender-focused development initiatives; and increased the community of CGI members who are incorporating the gender lens in their work. She is a member of the World Bank’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a contributing author in the book “Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change.”  

 

Abeywardena previously worked for the Drum Major Institute and Human Rights Watch.