Suzanne Grant Lewis
Director, UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)
Suzanne Grant Lewis

Ms. Suzanne Grant Lewis was appointed Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in 2014. She provides strategic vision and leadership for the Institute, develops strategic partnerships and mobilises resources, and provides oversight of the staff, financial resources, programme and administration of IIEP Paris, Pôle de Dakar and Buenos Aires. She has over 25 years of experience in improving educational opportunities in the developing world, particularly in education policy and planning in Africa. In 2011, she helped launch the International Education Funders Group, a collaborative of over 50 foundations to help private donors play a catalytic role in advancing Education for All. Prior to this, Ms. Grant Lewis directed the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, an initiative of seven private US foundations to strengthen African universities. As a Harvard University faculty member (1997-2006) she co-developed and directed the International Educational Policy Master's degree program and taught postgraduate courses on education policy and planning and gender inequalities in education. Ms. Grant Lewis has experience in designing and managing applied educational research programs and has published works for a wide range of audiences on participation in school governance, democratic policy-making in education, funding trends in education internationally, among many others. She has lived in the USA, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, and France.