Ms. Sandra Polaski

 Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs,

United States

Sandra Polaski is the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Department of Labor, where she heads the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). She was sworn in on April 27, 2009. Ms. Polaski is responsible for formulation of international economic, trade and labor policies in collaboration with other U.S. government agencies. She also oversees ILAB's research on international labor issues and international technical assistance in support of U.S. foreign labor policy objectives.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Polaski was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she directed the Trade, Equity and Development Program. The Carnegie Endowment is a global think tank with offices in Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Beirut and Brussels. Her work focused on trade, development, livelihood and income distribution issues.

Ms. Polaski earlier served as the US Secretary of State's Special Representative for International Labor Affairs. She was responsible for incorporating labor and livelihood issues into US foreign policy under Secretaries Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. Previously, Ms. Polaski was the Director of Economic and Labor Law Research for the Secretariat of the North American Commission on Labor Cooperation, a NAFTA-related body.

Ms. Polaski holds M.A. degrees from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the University of Wisconsin and a B.A. from the University of Dayton.