The George Washington University

School of Public Health and Health Services

1) Personal Data

Mary, Carroll Ellsberg

Home: 8113 Park Crest Dr.
Silver Spring, MD, 20901
(301) 472-8409
mary.ellsberg@gmail.com
mellsberg@gwu.edu

714 21st St.NW #204

Washington, DC, 20052

2) Education and Training

Yale University, Bachelors of Art, 1984

Latin American Studies,
Cum Laude and Honors in the Major,
New Haven, CT

Umeå University, Doctorande (PhD equivalent), 2000

Epidemiology and Public Health
Faculty of Medicine,
Sweden

3) Professional Employment

August, 2012 to Founding Director, Global Women’s Institute, George

Present Washington University

2008 to June, 2012 Vice-President, Research and Programs,

International Center for Research on Women, Washington,
DC

Provided strategic leadership to develop and implement cutting-

edge research and technical services with direct relevance for
gender and development programs and policies, including
economic development, violence and rights, adolescent girls,
global health, HIV and stigma. Management and oversight of the
Research and Program projects and staff. Provided leadership in
institutional decision-making and policy formulation as member of
Executive Team. Provided operational support and technical
 assistance to program areas, project teams, in-country partners,
and international collaborators in designing and conducting
research on gender and development issues.

2001 to 2008 Senior Advisor for Gender, Violence and Human Rights
Director, Nicaragua Office
Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH),
Washington, DC
Responsibilities included providing technical leadership on
research and policy issues related to gender-based violence and
human rights, such as the World Health Organization’s Multi-
country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence; point
person for Female Genital Cutting activities carried out by the
Washington DC office; Coordinator of the Inter-American
Alliance on Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Health
(InterCambios); and oversight and management of Nicaragua’s
program portfolio, including projects on rotavirus vaccine, cervical
cancer prevention, sexual and reproductive health of adolescent
girls, and gender-based violence. Member of PATH’s Program
Strategy and Leadership Group which reviews development and
implementation of PATH’s organizational and programmatic
strategy.

2000 to 2001 Associate Director

Women's Health Exchange, Silver Spring, Maryland
Responsible for research and policy program on domestic violence,
including development of a study on domestic violence and
women’s health in Central Java, Indonesia, and secondary analysis
of the 1998 Nicaraguan DHS. Published articles in Studies in
Family Planning and The Lancet on ethical and methodological
aspects of violence research. Supervised field work for the WHO
study on domestic violence in Ethiopia, Peru and Brazil.

1998 to 2000 Senior Program Associate

Center for Health and Gender Equity, Takoma Park,
Maryland
Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) Women’s
Division, in the design and technical follow-up for a multi-center
study on violence against women (1998 – 2000). With Heise and
Gottemoeller, authored a special issue of Population Reports on
Violence against Women. Conducted primary analysis and drafted
chapter on domestic violence for the Nicaraguan Demographic and
Health Survey (1998).

1995 to 1998 Founder and General Manager

Perspectivas Consulting Firm, Managua, Nicaragua
 Under contract to the Swedish International Development Agency
(Sida), served as technical advisor to the Nicaraguan Institute for
Statistics and MACRO International in the development of a
domestic violence module in the Nicaraguan Demographic and
Health Survey (ENDESA, 1998). Consultant to GVC and Terra
Nuova (Italian NGOS) and UNFPA in the design of a Central
American program to support women’s organizations working
with violence and reproductive health (1995). Carried out a 7
country evaluation of PAHO’s Violence against Women Program
in Central America, under contract to Sida and NORAD.

1990 to 1995 Program Officer for Gender and Social Sector Programs
Swedish Embassy, Managua, Nicaragua

Responsibilities involved technical support for gender

mainstreaming in Swedish Development Cooperation with
Nicaragua (including in forestry, mining and local development
programs), as well management of a grant-making fund for
women’s empowerment activities that distributed approximately 1
MUSD per year in grants. Duties also included planning and
follow-up of Swedish bilateral cooperation in the social sector,
including: a health reform project (PROSILAIS) through the
Ministry of Health, administered by PAHO and UNICEF (9
MUSD); support to local development (PRODEL) through the
Institute of Municipal Development, offering social infrastructure,
housing and micro-enterprise credits (6 MUSD).

1981 to 1987 Regional Deputy Director for Health Education

Ministry of Health, Bluefields, Nicaragua

Responsibilities included training and supervision of a network of

500 community health volunteers and traditional birth attendants,
preparation of bilingual health education materials, organization of
regional health promotion activities (i.e. vaccination and malaria
prevention campaigns) and participation in the district health
management team for the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health in the
South Atlantic Region.

4) Honors and Awards

Nominated in 2009 for the Global Health Award

Awarded a “Vision” award at PATH in 2008 for excellence in developing and
maintaining partnerships.

5) Grants Awarded or Pending

 I am the Principle Investigator on over 10 grants raised at GWI totally more than 4
million USD from diverse donors, including DFAT (Australia), DFID (UK),
USAID, USDOS, Novo Foundation, Wellspring Advisors, and others.

I am currently conducting primary research on violence against women and girls in

Nicaragua, South Sudan, Jamaica, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago.

6) Selected Grants Concluded

Study on Best Practices on Violence against Women in Melanesia

May, 2011- May 2012
350,000 $ from the Australian International Development Agency (AusAID)
Principal Investigator, 30% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To carry out a follow-up study to an earlier study on
violence against women in Melanesia, and to draft a policy document for the
Australian Government for their investment on VAW projects

Developing Research Capacity on Violence against Women in East Africa

January 2009- July, 2012
1,000,000 $ from an Anonymous Donor
Principal Investigator, 25% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To provide technical and financial support to 6 NGOs in
East Africa to design and conduct small studies on violence against women.

Capacity Building in Monitoring and Evaluation of Programs to address

Violence against Women
June, 2009 – July, 2010
250,000 $ from UN Women
Project Director, 25% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To design a monitoring and evaluation course for grantees
of the UN Trust Fund on Violence against Women, and to carry out 4 regional
courses.

Best Practices in Addressing Violence against Women in Melanesia and East

Timor
May 2007-July, 2008
350,000 $ Australian International Development Agency (AusAID)
Principal Investigator, 40% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To carry out a 5 country study to identify best practices in
addressing violence against women in the justice sector, services and prevention,
and to provide recommendations for future investment of the Australian
Government in the field.

Support for Research and Action in Preventing Violence against Women in

Central America (Inter-Cambios)
 January, 2002 – December, 2005
2,000,000$ from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)
Principal Investigator/Project Director, 60% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To set up and coordinate a network of organizations that
carried out research, capacity building and advocacy to strengthen the public
health response to violence against women in Latin America

Multi-Country Study on Violence against Women

2000-2005
250,000$ from World Health Organization (WHO)
Member of Core Technical Team, 20% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To provide technical assistance in design, implementation,
analysis and writing up of findings from a multi-country study of 10 countries and
24,000 women on experiences of domestic violence.

Evaluation of the Health Sector Response to Violence against Women in

Central America
2000
75,000$ from Sida
Principal Investigator, 20% LOE
Main Grant Objective: To conduct a 7 country review of the Pan American
Health Organization’s program to strengthen health sector responses to violence
against women in Central America.

7.) Key Publications

a) Peer-reviewed journals

Ellsberg M, Arango DJ, Morton M, Gennari F, Kiplesund S, Contreras M, et al.

Prevention of violence against women and girls: what does the evidence say?
Lancet. Nov 14, 2014. 61703-7.
Devries K, Watts C, Yoshihama M, Kiss L, Schraiber LB, Deyessa N, Heise L,
Durand J, Mbwambo J, Jansen H, Berhane Y, Ellsberg M, Garcia-Moreno C;
WHO Multi-Country Study Team. Violence against women is strongly associated
with suicide attempts: evidence from the WHO multi-country study on women's
health and domestic violence against women. Soc Sci Med. 2011 Jul;73(1):79-86.
Abramsky T, Watts CH, Garcia-Moreno C, Devries K, Kiss L, Ellsberg M, Jansen
HA, Heise L. What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence?
findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic
violence. BMC Public Health. 2011 Feb 16;11:109.
Deyessa N, Berhane Y, Emmelin M, Ellsberg MC, Kullgren G, Högberg U. Joint
effect of maternal depression and intimate partner violence on increased risk of
child death in rural Ethiopia. Arch Dis Child. 2010 Oct;95(10):771-5.
Deyessa N, Berhane Y, Ellsberg M, Emmelin M, Kullgren G, Högberg U. Violence
against women in relation to literacy and area of residence in Ethiopia. Global
 Health Action. 2010 Feb 25;3.
Valladares E, Peña R, Ellsberg M, Persson LA, Högberg U. Neuroendocrine
response to violence during pregnancy--impact on duration of pregnancy and fetal
growth. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2009;88(7):818-23.
Deyessa N, Berhane Y, Alem A, Ellsberg M, Emmelin M, Hogberg U, Kullgren G.
Intimate partner violence and depression among women in rural Ethiopia: a
Cross-sectional study. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2009 Apr 28;5:8.
Ellsberg, M., H. A. Jansen, et al. Intimate partner violence and women's physical and
mental health in the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic
violence: an observational study. The Lancet 2008; 371(9619): 1165-72
Morrison, A, Ellsberg, M, Bott, S. Addressing Gender-Based Violence: A Critical
Review of Interventions. The World Bank Research Observer 2007; 22, 25-51.
Ellsberg, M. Violence against women and the Millennium Development Goals:
Facilitating women’s access to support. International Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology 2006; 94, 325-332.
Garcia Moreno, C., C. Watts, H. Jansen, M. Ellsberg, L Heise. The prevalence of
intimate partner violence: Findings from the WHO multi-country study on
women’s health and domestic violence. The Lancet 2006; 368, 1260-12
Ellsberg, M. Violence against Women: A Global Health Crisis. Scandinavian Journal
of Public Health 2006; 34, 1-4.
Garcia Moreno, C., C. Watts, H. Jansen, M. Ellsberg, L Heise. The WHO Multi-Country
Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence: Report on the First Results.
Geneva, Switzerland: WHO, 2005.
Garcia Moreno, C., H. Jansen, M. Ellsberg, L Heise C. Watts. Violence against Women.
Science 2005; 310, 1282-1283.
Garcia Moreno, C., C. Watts, H. Jansen, M. Ellsberg, L Heise. (2003). "Responding to
violence against women: WHO's Multicountry Study on Women's Health and
Domestic Violence." Health and Human Rights 6(2): 112-127.
Heise, L., M. Ellsberg, et al. (2002). "A global overview of gender-based violence." Int J
Gynaecol Obstet 78 Suppl 1: S5-14.
Jansen, H. A. F. M., C. Watts, L. Heise, M. Ellsberg, C. Garcia Moreno. (2004).
"Interviewer training in the WHO multi-country study on women's health and
domestic violence." Violence against Women 10(7): 831-849.
Åsling-Monemi, K, Peña, R, Ellsberg, M, Persson, L-Å. (2003) Violence against women
increases the risk of infant and child mortality: A case-referent study in
Nicaragua. The Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 81:10-18.
Ellsberg, M. Heise, L. (2002). Bearing Witness: Ethics in domestic violence research.
The Lancet 359:1599-604.
Valladares, E, Peña, R, Ellsberg, M, Persson, LA, Hogberg, U. (2002). Physical partner
abuse during pregnancy: A risk factor for low birth weight in Nicaragua.
Obstretrics and Gynecology. 11:700-5.
Ellsberg, M, Heise L, Agurto, S, Peña R, Winkvist A. (2001). Researching violence
against women: Methodological and Ethical Considerations. Studies in Family
Planning, 32, 1-16.
Ellsberg, M, Winkvist, A., Peña, R., Stenlund, H. (2001) Women´s Strategic Responses
to Domestic Violence in Nicaragua. International Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health, 55, 547-555.
Olsson, A, Ellsberg, M, et al. (2000). Sexual abuse during childhood and adolescence
among Nicaraguan men and women: A population-based anonymous survey.
Child Abuse and Neglect, 24,1579-1589.
Ellsberg, M., Peña, R., Herrera, A., Liljestrand, J. Winkvist, A. (2000) Candies in hell:
Women’s experiences of violence in Nicaragua. Social Science and Medicine. 51,
1595-1610.
Ellsberg, M., Peña, R., Herrera, A., Winkvist, A., Kullgren, G. (1999). “Domestic
Violence and Emotional Distress among Nicaragua Women: Results from a
Population-Based Study. American Psychologist. 54; 30-36.
Ellsberg, M. Peña, R. Herrera, A. Liljestrand, J. Winkvist, A. (1999). Wife Abuse
among women of childbearing age in Nicaragua. American Journal of Public
Health. 89:241-244.

b) Books written

Ellsberg, M., Heise, L. Researching Violence against Women: A Practical Guide for
Researchers and Advocates. Washington, D.C. Program for Appropriate
Technology in Health and the World Health Organization, 2005.

Velzeboer, M., M. Ellsberg, Clavel Arcas, C, Garcia Moreno, C. (2003). Violence

against Women: The Health Sector Responds. Washington, D.C., Pan American
Health Organization, PATH, Centers for Disease Control.

c) Articles in non-refereed journals

Ellsberg, M., Liljestrand, J, Winkvist, A. (1997). The Nicaraguan Network of Women

against Violence: Using Research and Action for Change. Reproductive Health
Matters, 10, 82-92

d) Peer reviewed reports

Ellsberg M, Heilman B, Namy S, Contreras M, Hayes R. Violence against Women in

Melanesia and Timor-Leste: Follow-up to the ODE Report. ICRW, AusAID,
Canberra Australia, 2011

Ellsberg, M., Bradley, C., Egan A., Haddad, A. Violence against Women in Melanesia
and East Timor: Building on Global and Regional Promising Approaches. Office
of Development Effectiveness, AUSAID. Canberra, Australia, 2008.
Bott, S., A. Morrison, M. Ellsberg. (2004). What is known about preventing and
responding to gender-based violence: a multi-sectoral literature review and
analysis. Washington, D.C., World Bank.
Morrison, A., M. Ellsberg, S. Bott. (2004). Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Latin
America and the Caribbean: A Critical Review of Interventions. Washington,
D.C., World Bank.
Heise, L., Ellsberg, M. and Gottemoeller, M. (1999). Ending Violence Against Women.
Population Reports, Series L, No. 11. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University
School of Public
Watts, C, Heise, L, Ellsberg, M, Garcia-Moreno, C. (1999) Putting Women’s Safety
First: Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Research on Domestic Violence
against Women. Geneva, World Health Organization.

d) Non peer reviewed reports

Hakimi, M., Nur Hayati, E. Marlinawati, U, Winkvist, A. Ellsberg, M. (2001). Silence

for the Sake of Harmony: Domestic Violence and Women’s Health in Central
Java, Indonesia. CHN-RL, PATH, Rifka Annisa Women’s Crisis Center, Umeå
University. Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Ellsberg, M (2000). Candies in Hell: Research and Action on Domestic Violence against
women in Nicaragua. Doctoral Thesis, Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health. Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Rosales Ortiz, J. Loaiza, E., Primante, D., Barberena, A. Blandon, L. Ellsberg, M.
(1999). Encuesta de Demografía y Salud (ENDESA, 1998). MACRO
International, INEC, Managua, 1999.
Ellsberg, M. El Camino hacia la Igualdad: Guia para la evaluacion de proyectos para el
empoderamiento de las mujeres. Asdi, Managua, 1998.
Ellsberg, M. Peña, R. Herrera, A. Liljestrand, J. Winkvist, A. (1998). “Confites en el
Infierno, Prevalencia y Características de la Violencia Conyugal hacia las Mujeres
en Nicaragua.” 1ra edición, Managua, Marzo, 1996. 2da Edición.
Red de Mujeres contra la Violencia. (1998). Main author of Como Atender y Prevenir la
Violencia Domestica. Orientaciones Basicas para el Personal de Salud. Managua.
Red de Mujeres contra la Violencia

8) Recent Scholarly Presentations

Participated in panel discussion at White House on the recent Presidential Edict on the
US Strategy to Prevent Gender Based Violence, August 10, 2012, Washington,
DC.
Presentation on Women’s economic empowerment and prevention of violence against
women. UN Expert Group Meeting on Violence against Women. Thailand, Sept,
20-13, 2012.
Keynote speech at Inter-American Development Bank meeting of Ministers of Finance
on Violence against Women. San Salvador, October 19, 2012.
Co-Facilitator and Key note Presenter, US- Australia Policy Dialogue on Violence
against Women in the Pacific, Canberra, Australia, November, 2011.
Talk on Ethics in Violence Research at a symposium convened by the Pan American
Health Organization and the Inter-Agency Gender Working Group, Washington,
D.C., November, 2011.
Panelist at session on Violence against Women- Searching for Solutions. Women’s Social
and Economic Forum, Deauville, France, October, 2011.
Moderator at Session on Violence against Women in Urban Settings, Clinton Global
Initiative, New York, September, 2011.
Panelist on Gender and Public Health Session. Interaction Forum Conference,
September, 2011.
Panelist on ICRW event on violence against women, with Ambassador Don Steinberg,
Deputy Director USAID, Abby Disney, National Press Club, Washington, DC,
June, 2011.
Evaluating interventions on violence against women. International Conference on Safe
Cities for Women and Girls, organized by UN Women. Cairo, Egypt. July, 2011.
Key note speech at Institute of Medicine Workshop on Preventing Violence against
Women and Children, Washington, DC, January, 2011.
Violence against Women and the Millennium Development Goals. Panel organized by
UN Women, ICRW and OECD Development Center at the UN Economic and
Social Council Meeting, New York, April, 2010.
Plenary speech at National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, organized by
Futures without Violence, New Orleans, October, 2009.
Plenary speech at International Conference on Gender based Violence and Reproductive
Health, organized by the Indian Medical Research Council and WHO. Mumbai,
January 2009.
Participatory Research on Violence against Women. Workshop and paper presented at
the Australian Conference on Evaluation. Canberra, Australia, August, 2009.

9) University Service:

I’ve served on three Faculty Selection Committees for ESIA and MISPH, two PhD
Commitees, and two Tenure Review Committees.

10) Professional Society Membership and Leadership

• Member of the American Public Health Association (APHA)

• Member of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
• Founding member of the Nicaraguan Network of Women against Violence
• Founding member of Inter-Cambios – the Inter-American Alliance for
Gender-based Violence Prevention and Health
• Member of the Research Working Group of the GBV Prevention Network
of East, Southern and the Horn of Africa
• Founding member of the International Research Network on Violence
against Women (IRNVAW)

11) Editorial Peer Review Activities

I serve regularly as a reviewer for journals including Social Science and Medicine,
Reproductive Health Matters, and the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, was Guest
Editor for a special issue of Global Health Action, and have served on review committees
for grants at NIH and CDC.

12) External Activities/Partnerships.

I have cultivated and managed partnerships with a wide variety of

organizations/institutions, including the World Bank, World Health Organization, UN
Women, InterAmerican Development Bank, USAID, AusAID, Sida, the Ministries of
Women’s Affairs and Ministries of Health in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and
universities and NGOs in South Asia, Central America, East and Southern Africa, and
the Pacific Islands.

13) Teaching/Learning Portfolio

a) At GWU - I developed and teach 2 sections per year of the course I

developed and teach the online course Researching Violence against Women -
for MISPH MPH program.

b) I lecture regularly for courses in ESIA, CCAS, MIPH.

c) Educational Program Leadership. I have developed and taught courses and

workshops on research methods for violence against women, and monitoring
and evaluation methods on VAW in both Spanish and English. These 1-2
week long courses were based on the research manual I authored with Lori
Heise have been offered through partnerships with UNAN-Managua,
Nicaragua; Addis Continental School of Public Health, The World Health
Organization, The Medical Research Council of South Africa, and Sao Paolo
University, Brazil. 2005-2012.

d) Courses Taught. I have been a guest lecturer in courses on reproductive

health and gender and development at Umea University, Sweden, Malmo
University, Sweden, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Tulane
University School of Public Health, George Washington University School of
Health Services and Public Health, UNAN-Leon. I also co-taught a course
on Epidemiology and Field Methods at Umea University, Sweden, in 1996,
1997, and 1998.

14) Public Health Practice Portfolio

a) Participation on Advisory Panels -

Member of the Inter-Agency Gender Working Group (IGWG) Technical advisory Group
2000- 2012. Unpaid.
Co-Chair of Gender-based Violence Task Force of IGWG from 2005-2008. Unpaid.
Member of Steering Committee of Sexual Violence Research Initiative, 2007-2008.
Unpaid.
Member of Expert Committee on Gender and HIV Indicators, UNAIDS, 2011. Unpaid.
Member of the Core Research Team of the WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s
Health and Domestic Violence against Women 2000-2006. Under contract to
WHO.

b) Program or Project Development

Founder and International Coordinator, of InterCambios, The Inter-American Alliance

for Gender-based Violence and Health from 2002-2005. Position was funded through
PATH by the Swedish International Development Agency.

As Vice-President for Research and Programs of the International Center for Research on
Women (ICRW) from 2008-2012, I was responsible for development and oversight of a
portfolio of research programs of approximately 6,000,000$ per year, including such
issues as HIV, reproductive health, child marriage, gender-based violence, male
engagement in gender equality, and women’s economic empowerment.

As Director for Gender, Violence and Rights, and Director of the Nicaragua Office of
PATH from 2000-2008, I managed a portfolio of approximately 1,000,000 $ per year
including projects on gender-based violence, cervical cancer testing, rotavirus
introduction and others.

c) Recent Consultations

Participation in Expert Group on Violence Prevention, convened by UN Women in

preparation of the UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting in 2013.
September, 2011.

Member of the Gender and Health Expert Group, Pan American Health Organization,
2011, 2012.

d) Testimony

I have served as a pro bono expert on domestic violence in Nicaragua and have provided
testimony in over 30 cases for Nicaraguan women seeking asylum in the U.S. to escape
domestic violence.