Hunt was born May 1, 1950 in Dallas, Texas, the youngest of four children born to the oil tycoon H.L. Hunt and Ruth Ray. However, not until her father's first wife died did Swanee Hunt's parents marry in 1957 and it was only then that she and her siblings moved into the Hunt mansion, built to resemble its namesake, Mount Vernon. This unusual early childhood and her mother's profoundly fundamentalist faith had a lasting impact on Swanee Hunt's world view. Hunt grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she attended the Hockaday School. She lived for many years in Denver, Colorado, where she was active in many community and philanthropic activities. Her several siblings include sisters Helen LaKelly Hunt and June Hunt.
Hunt is an expert on women in politics, having conducted research, training, and consultations with women leaders in some 60 countries. She is the chair of the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security which advocates integrating women into peace processes. In 1981, she co-founded the Hunt Alternatives Fund with her sister Helen. The organization is focused on strengthening youth arts organizations; supporting leaders of social movements; opposing sex work by directly funding increased policing, public shaming, and prosecution; and increasing philanthropy. Based in Denver until 1997, the organization was relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1997, when Hunt founded WAPPP at Harvard University. She has lectured at Harvard's business, law, divinity, and education graduate schools. Swanee Hunt was appointed in 1993 as ambassador to Austria, where she was notable for writing a weekly newspaper column and radio program. She served at the height of the Bosnian War and urged that the US government step up its efforts to secure peace in this embattled region, a message not always well received back home. Nonetheless, Hunt did what she could and directed much of her efforts at women in the affected areas, organizing conferences designed to promote East- West learning, such as "Bosnian Women Stepping into Politics" and "Vital Voices: Women in Democracy" at which then First Lady Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address. By 1997, Hunt was ready for a change and the opportunity to do so came when the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University offered her the task of establishing the Women and Public Policy Program. Since stepping down as Director of the Program in 2008, she has continued on at the Kennedy School as the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy. Since then, Hunt founded and directs the Institute for Inclusive Security, in which "Women are an essential tool to prevent violence, stop war, and restore communities after deadly conflicts." In addition, she focuses on demanding an end to commercial sex around the globe as well as her "Political Parity campaign which works to elect more women to higher office as such "improves policy outcomes and lifts public trust." Most recently, she has been active in Iran and Rwanda, spearheading efforts there to improve the lives of women and girls. She is active in Democratic politics and, in addition to fundraising events for candidates, she convened Unconventional Women, a six-hour program featuring more than 20 female political leaders for an audience of 3000 in Denver during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Hunt is also a talented classical composer and photographer. Her musical composition "The Witness Cantata" has been performed in several cities.
Awards and honors
Swanee Hunt has earned dozens of U.S. and international awards, recognitions, and inductions from leading organizations, highlighting her achievements as a diplomat, academic, activist, and artist, as well as her commitment to global and local philanthropy. Her awards and acknowledgments have come from organizations including:
At age 20, Hunt married Mark Meeks, a seminary student. Hunt gave birth to daughter Lillian in 1982, and the marriage dissolved soon after. In 1985, Hunt married conductor Charles Ansbacher, who died on September 12, 2010. She has three children, among them filmmaker Henry Ansbacher, and three grandchildren.
