Creating new approaches to international development

Carol Grodzins brings years of experience in international development and social change to Ashoka. She has worked in higher education, health, and grassroots organizing before becoming a Vice President of the organization, working to integrate its Fellows as Director of Global Fellowship. Global Fellowship enables Ashoka Fellows to share their innovative solutions and collaborate, multiplying the impact of their projects around the world.

Carol has served in the Peace Corps as a teacher in Sarawak, Malaysia, an experience which lead her to study the challenges around creating healthy populations. She pursued her interest first at the Massachusetts General Hospital, studying nursing and later as President of a statewide, nurse-led organization promoting family-centric obstetrics. In the 1980s, Carol spearheaded the development of the Massachusetts Committee for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze which educated citizens, lobbied Congress, and organized grassroots support for an end to new nuclear weapons testing, production, and deployment. In 1989, Carol joined the Harvard Institute for International Development's macroeconomic policy group. Over the next eleven years, Carol co-launched the Program on NGO's and the Kennedy School's MPA in International Development. She directed all International Programs at KSG and received a MPA from the Kennedy School in 1993.

Carol has approached social change from many angles, and brings the wealth of her experience to her work.

Speech Topics

• International Development
• Global Citizen Sector
• Social Entrepreneurship in Asia