Fred was named to the Time 100 list of the one hundred most influential people in the world in 2019. Fred is deeply passionate about Africa and believes that the missing ingredient on the continent is good leadership. In line with this, he has founded two organizations that aim to catalyse a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial African leaders: African Leadership Academy and the African Leadership Network.

In recognition of his work in developing Africa’s future leaders, Fred was selected as one of 115 young leaders to meet US President Obama at the first-ever President’s Forum for Young African Leaders held at the White House in 2010. He has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and was listed by Forbes Magazine among the top ten young ‘power men’ in Africa in 2011. Fred was also recognized by Echoing Green as one of fifteen “best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world” in 2006. He was a 2009 TED Fellow and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leadership Network.

Fred began his professional career as a consultant with McKinsey and Company and has an MBA from Stanford Business School, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar, a distinction awarded to the top 10% of each graduating class at the business school. He was born in Ghana but has lived and worked in about 10 different African countries.

Chris brings a hybrid background in business and education to his work designing and building institutions of excellence. Chris previously worked in brand management at The Procter and Gamble Company and as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He has also consulted to the Broad Foundation, one of the leading educational foundations in the United States, and taught economics and physics at Oundle School, one of the leading coeducational boarding schools in England. At Oundle, Chris developed a keen interest in the design of educational institutions, and in the potential for educational institutions to shape societies.

As a graduate student at Stanford University, Chris and colleague Fred Swaniker began to build African Leadership Academy, a pan-African institution that sought to address what they saw as the most important factor in Africa’s future development: the supply of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders across the continent. This work was validated in 2006, when Chris and Fred were named Echoing Green Fellows as two of the “leading emerging social entrepreneurs in the world” – selected from over 900 organizations worldwide.

Chris led the design of African Leadership Academy’s innovative curriculum, which merges rigorous academics with powerful courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies. He also shaped the Academy’s admissions process, which has selected outstanding young leaders from numerous applicants in countries across Africa since 2008. With its unique focus and pan-African reach, the Academy is unlike any other school in the world.

Chris holds a BA degree summa cum laude in Economics from Yale University and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University. At Yale, Chris won the Delaney Kiphuth Scholar-Athlete Award as the graduating varsity athlete ranking highest in scholarship. At Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, he was named a Siebel Scholar, a distinction given to five students for academic excellence and extracurricular leadership. In 2011, he won the inaugural Siebel Scholars Impact Award for his work developing African Leadership Academy.

Andrew is the co-founder of GLA, and has extensive experience operating international educational programs around the world, including serving two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. His overseas volunteer experience ignited a passion to share that experience with others, and he became vice president at a non-profit international volunteer organization. There, he helped build programs from scratch into a network of 14 countries and 2,500 volunteers, before going on to co-found Terra Education. He currently serves as the co-founder and director of Summer Springboard, pre-college programs in the US on university campuses.

Ryan is not only a Pediatric Resident Physician at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, but a Global Leadership Adventures alumnus from our South Africa program! A global health professional, he has also served on the board of Georgetown University’s Physicians for Human Rights.

Jordan has had an extensive career as a Country Director, with MSF / Doctors Without Borders. He has completed 17 missions in countries such as Haiti, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Chad, Uganda and Bangladesh.

Vijo is a co-founder of a land conservation organization that oversees and manages a nature reserve. He is an ambassador and advocate for both wild and captive Asian elephants. Vijo collaborates with GLA in Thailand through our Elephants & Conservation Expedition program.

Henry is the longtime Local Director for Global Leadership Adventures’ Ghana: Children of Africa program. In addition to guiding years of students through their first immersion trip to Western Africa, Henry will be leading a Ghanaian dance and drum session as part of our course.

Heather earned a Master’s in TEFL Education, and has taught English to students in California, Costa Rica, and Germany. With a background in working and living overseas, including on GLA’s Travel Coordination Team, Heather is passionate about sharing the possibilities of working and living abroad.

Prita has been part of the Bali Institute team for more than 10 years, most recently as Operations Manager. She carries a deep understanding of the Balinese culture as seen through the eyes of foreigners, a unique skill that helps in designing components of the cultural experiences that are everlasting and transformative. She often leads cultural discussions and helps create seminars in collaboration with universities in Bali. She has also led special programs with Aboriginal university students from Australia, designed to strengthen and enhance Indonesian-Australian cultural exchange among young people.

Travis and Pilar aim to utilize their B-Corp business as a force for positive change in the world, and to build connections across global borders. They are longtime collaborators with GLA through various programs in Costa Rica, and Travis served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica and has stayed to continue to be an agent of change. Pilar will also be hosting a yoga class!

Sarah is a 2013 alumna of GLA’s Building a Sustainable World program in the Dominican Republic, which sparked her interest in global health and human rights. She later obtained her degree in Public Health from the University of Georgia while continuing to visit the DR annually to assist with clean water initiatives. After graduation, Sarah worked as the International Director for GLA’s Global Health Initiative program in Haiti, where she stayed full-time to assist nonprofits with securing grants and teach english at a local elementary school. Today, she continues her work in public health and human rights, but has directed her focus to domestic voting rights and social justice causes.