Blake Ratner
Executive Director
Washington, DC, USA
Languages: English, Spanish, French, Khmer
“Dialogue is difficult. Listening deeply to people with radically different perspectives, searching for solutions that go beyond convention, holding responsibility for change rather than passing it off to others—none of these are easy. Because our work is inherently tough, CoRe tends to attract people whose experiences give them reason to persevere. I’m consistently inspired by the creativity and dedication of the partners and team members who choose to devote their efforts to build a more collaborative, equitable and resilient future. More than a mission statement or strategy, it’s the quality of those connections that defines what we can achieve—together.”
Blake is founder and Executive Director of Collaborating for Resilience, and member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility, where he provides guidance on the design of GEF strategy in the areas of international waters, environmental security and resilience. He is the immediate past Director General of WorldFish, which works to strengthen food and nutrition security for millions of small-scale producers, processors, traders and poor consumers in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. An environmental sociologist with a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Blake’s research addresses social equity, ethics, resource conflict and the role of multi-stakeholder dialogue in environmental governance. Early in his career he worked with social entrepreneurs in Guatemala and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, and subsequently held posts with the World Resources Institute and the World Bank. Blake was based for 13 years cumulatively in Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, in addition to leading program implementation in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia.