Colleen Thouez is the division director of Welcoming and Integrated Societies at the Open Society International Migration Initiative.
Since 2015, Dr. Thouez has served as chair to the capacity building portfolio of the World Bank’s knowledge partnership on migration. Thouez is also a senior fellow at Columbia University and an adjunct professorial lecturer at American University’s School of International Service. In 2018, she helped establish the University Alliance for Refugees and At-Risk Migrants, based at Rutgers University.
Prior to joining the Open Society Foundations, Thouez served for 17 years at the United Nations in various leadership positions in the fields of adult education and international migration. She headed the United Nations Institute for Training and Research from 2004 to 2010. Before working at the United Nations, Thouez served as deputy director of policy research for the Global Commission on International Migration, spearheaded by former secretary-general Kofi Annan. Since 2013, Thouez has championed the role of cities and universities in welcoming migrants and refugees, which included creating an annual global mayors summit on migration. Her work with cities has been featured by Reuters, the Associated Press, TED Ideas, and WNYC.
Thouez obtained an MA from McGill University and a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.