Susan Bissell

Since 1987, Susan Bissell’s career has focused on the rights, safety and security of children and she is currently serving on a number of Boards, teaching, and writing. Bissell spent over twenty-five years working in various capacities for UNICEF, and from 2016 until 2018 led the establishment of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and its associated Fund.

From 2009 to 2015, Bissell served as Associate Director and Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF. Author of a number of research studies, she has worked with UNICEF in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Italy (at the Innocenti Research Centre in Florence), and New York City. Bissell earned a PhD in public health and medical anthropology from the University of Melbourne, Australia. While completing her doctorate, she joined Trudie Styler and the Bangladeshi film team Catherine and Tareque Masud to produce the documentary A Kind of Childhood which has won awards and been screened widely. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Toronto.

On behalf of her UNICEF Child Protection colleagues, Bissell accepted awards including an honorary professorship at Barnard College/Columbia University, the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship award from Tufts University, the Flambeau D’or from Panathlon International, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Bissell was also honored as the Weissberg Chair in International Studies, at Beloit College.