Regional Representative, Pacific Islands
Sandra Kraushaar is The Asia Foundation’s regional representative in the Pacific Islands, based in Suva, Fiji. She has over 25 years of professional experience working on gender, human rights, political economy, geopolitics, and governance. She leads a dynamic and growing team in the Pacific Islands, working with civil society, government, the private sector, regional bodies, and the international development and diplomatic community, supporting Pacific solutions to Pacific challenges.
Sandra has previously served as program and policy lead on Women, Peace, and Security agenda for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), multilateral gender work on several international platforms including the UN Human Rights Council, United National General Assembly committee work, ASEAN, and G20, as well as partnerships with UN Women, and the Commission on the Status of Women. Prior to this, she provided specialist guidance and training on political economy analysis, adaptive management, and developmental leadership as a governance adviser with DFAT’s Governance and Fragility Branch. She has also led DFAT’s Fragility and Conflict section’s engagement with research on measuring peace in the Pacific and politically informed policy and program design.
From 2013-2015, she served as Suva-based regional manager of the AusAID/DFAT-funded Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development program, a ten-year $320 million initiative across the Pacific Islands region. She also served as AusAID’s Suva-based regional manager of the Pacific Leadership program, with a focus on women’s leadership roles and potential in politics, business, and communities; designing comprehensive program strategies; and advancing new approaches to support women’s leadership and agency throughout the region.
Education: Sandra has a master’s degree in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from The Australian National University and a bachelor’s degree with honors in Politics, Peace, and Human Geography from the University of New England.
