Population Council Research that makes a difference

Joanne Gleason

Senior Associate

Joanne N. Gleason is the associate director of the Population Council's Reproductive Health program. Based in Washington, DC, she is responsible for the management and communication of program efforts in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean. She also serves as a liaison with partner and donor colleagues. The Council's Reproductive Health program develops new and improved contraceptive technologies and works to promote better maternal health and family planning services worldwide, especially among disadvantaged populations in developing countries. 

Recently promoted to senior associate, Gleason joined the Council 20 years ago, having spent the first ten years of her tenure at the Council offices in New York City and the latter ten in Washington, DC. Prior to her current position, Gleason served as administrator for the Council's global USAID-funded Frontiers in Reproductive Health program (1998–2008), and earlier managed large regional programs for Africa (1993–98) and Latin America and the Caribbean (1989–93). Before joining the Council, Gleason worked for the Ford Foundation, CARE, the Smithsonian Institution, and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Gleason holds a master's degree in international studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor's degree in foreign languages and international economics from the State University of New York. She has lived in Italy and the Caribbean and has worked and traveled extensively in more than 35 countries throughout the developing world.