Creating a Social Enterprise: Careers in International Development

Join Middlebury alumnae Cara Myers ‘13 as she talks about her experiences since leaving Middlebury, what its like to start a social enterprise and lessons learned: the process of growing something organically, working with international teams, raising funds, etc. for an international NGO she founded called the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (https://mozambiqueschoollunchinitiative.wordpress.com/). If you have interest in starting a nonprofit or have started one, come meet a Cara, and bring our questions.

Bio of Cara Myers ‘13
Cara’s background is in international politics and economics with a strong emphasis on international development. Cara worked for Samaritan’s Purse in Chokwe, Mozambique after graduating college in 2013. During this time, she learned about the local environment, the key challenges facing rural Mozambicans, and the key factors necessary for running a non- governmental program sustainably. It was there that she also met the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative program manager, Roberto. Cara then went on to work for Innovations for Poverty Action in Kenya as a Research Associate for a smallholder agricultural project. From there, she went to Brazil as a Fulbright Research Fellow where she evaluated the impact of a government program that integrates environmental and socio-economic goals for smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon. Cara speaks fluent Portuguese (the official language of Mozambique) and is very adept at working with a wide range of stakeholders and managing diverse teams.

Cara is currently a second-year student in the Master’s in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) program at the Harvard Kennedy School. She founded the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative in May of 2016 and has been responsible for directing all pilot activities thus far. She was most recently in Mozambique in during the summer of 2017, during which she worked for the World Bank on strategies for developing Mozambique’s agricultural and education sectors, as well as ramping-up activities with the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative, expanding the program’s involvement with farmers and developing sustainability plans. She plans on returning to Mozambique after graduation to work on running and scaling the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative full- time. Her vision is to build a sustainable organization that integrates food security, education, agricultural production and poverty reduction goals to create a high-impact strategy to improving the lives of Mozambicans.