Abby Maxman

Cognoscenti contributor

Abby Maxman is the president and CEO of Oxfam America, an international organization working to end the injustice of poverty. She brings more than 25 years of experience in international humanitarian relief and development to her post.

Recently published

Palestinians are walking amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 30, 2023, during a truce in the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A humanitarian's plea: Hope must survive amidst the horror in Israel and Gaza

If people like me — people who have dedicated their careers to peace — lose our hope and our determination to fight, who else will carry it forward? asks Abby...

Cognoscenti

Dec 1, 2023

A worker registers for compulsory vaccination after being barred into office for not complying with the order at the State Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria, on December 1, 2021. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images)

Vaccine equity isn’t just an ideal — it’s how we end the pandemic

As long as infection rates rage on in unvaccinated parts of the world, mutations will keep a cruel cycle of illness, death and economic suffering on repeat, writes Abby Maxman.

Cognoscenti

04:18Dec 10, 2021

Jeff Bezos speaks after receiving the 2019 International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Excellence in Industry Award during the the 70th International Astronautical Congress at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on October 22, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Billionaires In Space Are Costing Lives On Earth

The real innovation we need is not a business plan for space tourism, writes Abby Maxman, it is a fair tax system to curb inequality and invest in the health,...

Cognoscenti

Jul 19, 2021

Workers load eggs for packaging at Wilcox Family Farms on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Roy, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

The Pandemic Is Hurting Women Workers Most Of All

COVID-19 has uncovered a frightening landscape in the U.S., writes Abby Maxman, where marginalized people -- especially women -- are feeling the impact of systems that use them to do...

Cognoscenti

Apr 23, 2020

A woman holds a baby as the sun rises outside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019. Authorities on the Greek island of Lesbos have partly reopened the country's largest refugee camp to newly arrived migrants despite acute overcrowding. (Michael Varaklas/AP)

Refugee Resettlement Is Not A Partisan Issue

The Trump administration's decision to slash refugee admissions is a shocking act that will have reverberations around the world for years to come, writes Abby Maxman.

Cognoscenti

Oct 1, 2019

A printed photo taken on Sept. 29, 2017 showing police lifting the coffin of officer Luis Angel Gonzalez Lorenzo, who was killed during the passage of Hurricane Maria when he tried to cross a river in his car, is shown at the same cemetery in Aguada, Puerto Rico, May 31, 2018. The local police force of Aguadilla and Aguada lacks about a dozen officers since the storm, due to resignations and retirements. The U.S. territory's bankruptcy has frozen promotions, salaries, new hires and some police academies have even closed. (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

The Tragedy Of Hurricane Maria Was Worse Than We Knew — And It's Not Over Yet

The catastrophic storm plunged Puerto Ricans backward in time, writes Abby Maxman, the president and CEO of Oxfam America. Some think their island will never recover.

Cognoscenti

Jun 4, 2018

In this Dec. 22, 2017 photo, Wilmarie González Rivera prepares her children to attend a Christmas party at their school in Morovis, Puerto Rico. (Carlos Giusti/AP)

Puerto Rico Is Still In The Dark — We Must Pass Equitable Disaster Relief Now

The emergency state in Puerto Rico grinds on, writes Abby Maxman, because we do not treat Puerto Rico with the respect for its integrity and prosperity that we grant to...

Cognoscenti

Jan 23, 2018

In this Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, file photo, schoolchildren wade past floodwaters in Gaibandha district, about 120 miles (192 kilometers) north of capital Dhaka, Bangladesh. This week’s flooding in Houston is unprecedented, but such devastation is chronic across South Asia. Experts say local officials are ignoring dangers and pursuing development plans that only increase the risk of flood-related death and destruction as annual monsoon rains challenge cities to cope. (AP)

How Massachusetts Can Counteract Trump's Anti-Climate Policy

The Senate should pass a bill allowing taxpayers to donate money through their tax returns to poor countries vulnerable to climate change, writes Abby Maxman.

Cognoscenti

Nov 8, 2017