Advisor
Liz Blake serves as an advisor to C432. Liz retired in December 2014 after serving nearly nine years as Senior Vice President – Advocacy, Government Affairs & General Counsel for Habitat for Humanity International. In this capacity, Liz led Habitat’s Global Advocacy initiative and traveled extensively in the developing world working on land rights, women’s inheritance rights, issues of secure tenure, women’s issues, and water/sanitation related issues. Liz founded the Haiti Property Law Working Group working on land rights in Haiti. The group has completed two Haiti Property Law Manuals and has begun training judges, government officials and private sector parties on Haiti land rights. At Habitat for Humanity, Liz was also responsible for Habitat on the Hill, World Habitat Day events, and supported Habitat’s participation in the World Urban Forum, the World Bank Land and Poverty Conference and Prep Con for Habitat III. Liz served as a founding member of the Board of MicroBuild, a housing microfinance institution created by Habitat International with funding from OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Liz’s ongoing work in Haiti focuses on her role as an advisor to C432 - Closing the Gap, working with Haitian and international interests developing sports opportunities for Haitian youth and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity Haiti. Liz also serves as a board member of Industrial Revolution II, a Haiti garment manufacturer and continues to engage with the Clinton Global Initiative Haiti Action Network.
Liz's nine plus years in affordable housing and international development were preceded by roles as Executive VP for Consumer Affairs and General Counsel of US Airways, VP of General Electric, GC of GE Power Systems, VP and Chief of Staff at Cinergy and twenty years in private practice of law on Wall Street and in Ohio. Liz obtained a BA from Smith College, completed an Executive MBA program at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and earned a JD from Columbia University Law School.
