Dru Menaker is the Chief Operating Officer at PEN America, the human rights organization defending and celebrating the freedom to write. She provides strategic management for organizational growth, engages on advocacy campaigns, and oversees a range of programmatic and operational areas, including expansion of PEN America's presence nationwide, human resources development, and finance and administration. A passionate advocate for free expression and press freedom as fundamental rights that underpin democratic, economic, and social development, she has worked in civil society and journalism throughout Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Before joining PEN America in 2015, Menaker spent a decade in international development, strengthening media sectors and advancing access to information in closed, transitioning, and conflict-affected countries worldwide. As the Senior Media Advisor for IREX, she designed, implemented, and evaluated responses to complex media development challenges globally and represented IREX to the free expression community. She worked closely with a wide range of partners, including media outlets, advocacy groups, multilateral organizations, and government and private donors. Menaker also launched IREX’s organization-wide Communities of Practice to advance knowledge sharing in gender, conflict, youth, and technology programming. She provided ongoing leadership for this and other strategic initiatives as a member of IREX’s Senior Management Team. Menaker also was a founder and strategic advisor for IREX Europe, IREX’s partner in France.

Before joining IREX, Menaker was a journalist, editor, and media manager. As a foreign correspondent, she had postings in Warsaw, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Moscow. In the United States, she was a reporter, editor, and bureau chief for The Associated Press. She received an MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.