Susan Blaustein ’75 Composes an Unconventional Journey of Music and Global Advocacy

Susan Blaustein ’75 once thought she would spend her life composing music. Instead, she’s been composing something entirely different as a changemaker dedicated to amplifying the voices of women and underprivileged communities around the world.

While her story began at Pomona College as a student with a passion for music, she’s traveled from concert halls to developing countries and worn many hats: musician, journalist, lecturer and advocate. This year, at her 50^th class reunion, her journey has come full circle.

Blaustein, the founder and board chair of WomenStrong International, is being honored this year with the Blaisdell Distinguished Alumni Award by Pomona’s Alumni Association Board. This award recognizes alumni who carry the spirit of the College beyond the Gates and demonstrate exceptional achievement in their professions or community service.

“The name Blaisdell has been a part of my Pomona story since day one,” says Blaustein, who lived in Mudd-Blaisdell Hall during her first year at the College. “I know the Blaisdell legacy well, and receiving this award is a great honor.”

Some of Blaustein’s most cherished memories are tied to the Glee Club, where she found a community who shared her love of music. Traveling with the club to perform across California are memories she holds dear, as the trips offered not only a chance to create music but also to forge lifelong friendships.

“Coming together and making beautiful music was truly a special time for me,” she says.

Fellow Glee Club member John Rabold ’75, who is an Alumni Distinguished Service Award recipient this year, says that Blaustein was highly respected by all who knew her at Pomona. “Even when we were classmates, she struck me as a person of intelligence, accomplishment and drive who was likely destined for an impressive career,” he says.

For Blaustein, her time at Pomona was formative in shaping her life’s trajectory — which has been anything but linear. She majored in music composition at Pomona before going on to earn a doctorate from Yale University as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition. However, social justice issues soon inspired her to change the course of her career.

To fulfill her Guggenheim Fellowship, Blaustein embarked on a transformative trip to the Philippines, where, in addition to writing music, she started reporting in low-income communities and discovered a desire to bring awareness to poverty and injustice. This, she says, was the defining moment in her career. “It’s been a long, checkered journey, but looking back, it all fits with the deeply humanistic liberal arts education I received,” she said, crediting the breadth of her Pomona experience with making such a pivot possible.

After years of reporting on conflict and social justice issues internationally and domestically, she continued her reporting as a senior consultant and analyst with the International Crisis Group and the Coalition for International Justice. She then co-founded and led Columbia University’s Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI), an urban anti-poverty effort, where she helped develop social reform within governments and communities in 11 cities across sub-Saharan Africa.

This initiative inspired Blaustein to found and lead WomenStrong International, a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying the voices and solutions of local women leaders who are best positioned to identify what they, their families and communities need. Now entering its second decade, WomenStrong International continues to strengthen the impact of local women-led organizations, from the Philippines to Afghanistan to Guatemala, working in the areas of women’s health, girls’ education, violence prevention, economic security and environmental justice. Currently a lecturer at Columbia University, Blaustein shares these experiences, along with her knowledge of urban development and social justice, with the next generation of changemakers.

In Blaustein’s eyes, Pomona remains a special place — small in size, but giant in its global mission. The College’s values have guided her through a winding and impactful career path, and Blaustein offers this advice to fellow Sagehen alumni and students: “Follow your dreams, and don’t worry about your journey being a straight line. Let your gifts take you exactly where you are meant to be.”

Visit our website to read about this year’s alumni award honorees.