Jean Geran

Jean M. Geran is the Director for Human Rights, Child Protection and Global Policy of the University of Wisconsin’s 4W Initiative (Women & Wellbeing in Wisconsin & the World). She also is Director for Engagement of the Social Transformations to End Exploitation and Trafficking for Sex (STREETS) Project. Dr. Geran has extensive professional foreign policy experience working on human rights, trafficking in persons, child protection and related issues at the U.S. Department of State, the National Security Council and various think tanks and other international organizations. Her early academic work focused on social networks in Southeast Asia and later on development projects in Africa and Latin America. She has taught courses on human rights advocacy, human trafficking and international child rights as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and a Visiting Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She received her B.S.B.A. in business administration from Georgetown University, her M.S. in rural development from Michigan State University, and her Ph.D. in development studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she also received the 2006 Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Her passion is facilitating creative collaboration across disciplines, languages, cultures and faiths that promotes wellbeing for vulnerable people both locally and globally