Sabine Marx, Ph.D., is a social scientist with over twenty years of experience in communicating issues related to social change. At Brevity & Wit she leads communications strategies, and coaches executives to become more inclusive leaders and create more diverse and equitable organizations. Sabine draws on a range of assessment tools to help individuals and organizations boost their leadership capacity. She has trained at the Co-Active Coaching Training Institute (CTI) and is certified in the use of the Diamond Power Index (DPI) and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Her expertise falls broadly within the area of decision making under uncertainty, with a focus on risk communication and human behavior.
Sabine applies behavioral science insights to social and environmental problems such as climate change impacts on public health, disaster preparedness, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over the past two decades, she has held various appointments at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, including Director of Research at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), Managing Director at the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED), as well as Chief of Staff at the FrameWorks Institute, a social science and communications think tank in Washington, D.C.
A common thread throughout all her work has been to improve the communication of complex scientific and technical knowledge by tailoring information to stakeholder and community needs. At the core of this lies, for her, stakeholder engagement through participatory processes. Besides her work in the US, she has led and contributed to projects in Haiti, Argentina, Chile, and several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has developed communication guides and trainings which address the psychological and cultural barriers that often get in the way of information processing and decision making. She has given more than 100 speaking engagements, including communication trainings, with audiences ranging from government agencies, inter-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, museums, academic institutions, professional conferences, and the general public.
Sabine has received her PhD in medical history from Carnegie Mellon University, and holds a master’s degree in sociology and pedagogy, with a minor in psychology and art therapy from the University of Cologne, Germany. She completed her post-doctoral training at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), The Earth Institute, and the Department of Psychology at Columbia University.