Blake
Former Senior Vice President, Habitat for Humanity International
2017 Speaker

Atlanta, GA

After 28 years in private practice and ten years in the nonprofit sector, Liz Blake retired in December 2014 as senior vice president for advocacy, government affairs and general counsel for Habitat for Humanity International, where she traveled extensively in the developing world working on poverty, secure tenure, gender and community issues. Blake was responsible for Habitat’s legislative agenda, Habitat on the Hill, and World Habitat Day events, and she participated in World Urban Forums, World Bank Land and Poverty Conferences, preparation for Habitat III, risk management, as well as insurance and global legal matters. Blake helped start Micro Build, a $100-million housing microfinance fund, and served on the boards of the National Housing Conference, National Association of Realtors, and International Housing Coalition. At present, Blake is a director of Green Brick Partners and an adviser to C432, developing job creation projects in Haiti. In 2011 Blake founded—and still leads—a group to address land issues in Haiti. She is on the executive committee of Westside Future Fund and on the boards of social enterprise Vision Spring, International Women’s Forum Atlanta and Children’s Healthcare Atlanta. Blake was recently elected to the Cadasta Foundation, Westminster School and the Marcus Autism Center boards. Prior to 2005, Blake served as an executive for US Airways, General Electric, GE Power Systems, and Cinergy Corp. She got her BA from Smith, completed an Executive MBA at Darden, University of Virginia, and earned a JD from Columbia Law School.