Elizabeth Gibbens

Elizabeth Gibbens is the Senior Advisor for External Communications at WomenStrong International. Elizabeth originally hails from New Orleans and has lived most of her adult life in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth joins WomenStrong International after a decade at the World Bank Group, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC). While there, she led communications for IFC’s Gender Secretariat, working with colleagues in the Gender Cross-Cutting Solutions Area at the Bank and with the joint IFC–ILO program BetterWork.org, to improve labor conditions in the garment and textile industries.

Her international experience also includes leading updates to the digital presence of IFC’s Financial Institutions Group, which includes Banking on Women, SME Finance, Climate Finance, and other key initiatives to support the growth of developing and emerging economies around the world. She also coordinated digital communications for the Bank’s Global Practice on Urban, Disaster Recovery, Resilience and Land.

With more than 25 years of experience in her field, Elizabeth built her skills in keeping with the growth of digital communications — first by researching and reporting for the late William Safire’s “On Language” column in The New York Times, and then by working with web-consulting and marketing firms on content, information architecture, and user experience. She also was an early social media writer, creating blogs and social content for the firms where she consulted. As the copy chief for AARP.org, she edited all original web content, live-blogged about the organization’s events, and produced daily updates on the Obamacare legislation.

Elizabeth has a master’s in literature from the American University and has all-but-dissertation status toward a doctorate in English. Her undergraduate degree is in history, from Louisiana State University.

Elizabeth also has a lifelong interest in the fashion industry, in which she worked as a freelance personal and print stylist and wardrobe consultant.