Dr. Karen Austrian leads Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center—a global research hub that generates, synthesizes, and translates evidence on adolescents to support investments that transform their lives, especially for girls. Prior to this role, Austrian led a portfolio of projects designed to empower girls in East and Southern Africa. She develops, implements, and evaluates programs that build girls’ protective assets, such as financial literacy, social safety nets, health and wellbeing and access to education. Austrian is also actively involved in ensuring that evidence on adolescence is used by global, national, and local stakeholders.