Rye Barcott
| Rye Barcott | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1979 |
| Residence | North Carolina, USA |
| Nationality | US |
| Occupation | Author Social entrepreneur U.S. military |
| Organization | Carolina for Kibera |
| Title | Cofounder |
| Spouse | Dr. Tracy Barcott |
| Website | |
| It Happened on the Way to War | |
Rye Barcott is author of It Happened on the Way to War. He is a former Marine and cofounder of Carolina for Kibera, an acclaimed non-governmental organization that uses a unique model of participatory development to break cycles of violence and develop leaders in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Humanitarian Service
While an undergraduate in 2001, Barcott founded Carolina for Kibera (CFK) in Kenya with Salim Mohamed and the Tabitha Atieno Festo, who each shared the conviction that the poor have the solutions to the problems they face. CFK started as a small inter-ethnic soccer program and medical clinic run out of Tabitha Festo’s ten-by-ten foot shack. Today over 5,000 youth participate in its holistic youth programs, and the Tabitha Clinic treats more than 40,000 patients a year in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[2] Because of CFK's innovations in youth programming and participatory development, TIME Magazine and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation named CFK a "Hero of Global Health" at the Global Health Summit in 2005.[3] TIME for Kids featured CFK on the cover of its March 30, 2007 edition.[4] In 2004 Canadian Musician Sarah McLachlan concluded her award-winning music video “World on Fire” with footage of CFK’s soccer tournaments and medical clinic in Kibera. Two years later CFK published LIGHTBOX: Expressions of Hope from Young Women in the Kibera Slum. This book of narratives and photographs from disposable cameras gives voice to the young and courageous women of CFK's Binti Pamoja (Daughters United) Center.[5] In 2007 then Senator Barack Obama visited CFK’s youth center and gave a speech calling for ethnic unity and education in Kibera.[6] CFK played an important role in providing emergency aid during the Kenyan post-election violence in 2008, and for its efforts the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum honored CFK as its recipient of the Reflections of Hope Award in a ceremony with the former ABC World News Anchor Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee.[7]
[edit] Military service
Rye Barcott served five years on active duty in the Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of captain and deployed to Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq.[8] In 2006 he provided written testimony to the Iraq Study Group and authored a controversial article about the Iraqi Military Intelligence Academy in Proceedings, the professional journal of the U.S. Navy.[9] ABC World News with Charles Gibson covered his work in Kibera and his military service in Iraq and named him a Person of the Week and a 2006 Person of the Year.[10] The ABC World News story quoted him encouraging young Americans to expose themselves "to how the majority of the world lives … and I think it'll make you a lot more appreciative of what you've got … make you a better American and a better global citizen."
[edit] Written Work
Barcott is the author of the critically acclaimed[11] memoir It Happened on the Way to War (Bloomsbury Publishing). The book's dedication to Carolina for Kibera cofounders Salim Mohamed and Tabitha Atieno Festo includes a phrase that captures the central theme of the book: "Talent is universal; opportunity is not." In 2001, Barcott co-edited with Dr. Carolyn Pumphrey Armed Conflict in Africa, a book that analyzed the sources of violence in Africa. His post 9-11 letters with Salim Mohamed were published in Andrew Carroll’s Warletters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (Scribner, 2001).[12] His writing has appeared in the Washington Post[13], New York Times[14], and CNN[15]. In 2007 he delivered the commencement address to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.[16] As an inaugural TED Fellow, he gave a TED speech on “The Power of Participatory Development."[17] He is represented by the American Program Bureau and International Creative Management. It Happened on the Way to War was one of four books selected for the TED 2011 Book Club.
[edit] Education
Barcott graduated in 2001 with highest honors in Peace, War, and Defense and International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He attended UNC on a four-year U.S. Marine Corps NROTC Scholarship. In 2009 Barcott graduated with an MPA and MBA from Harvard as a Reynolds Social Entrepreneurship Fellow and George Leadership Fellow. Harvard President Drew Faust appointed him to a two-year term on the Harvard Endowment's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility, and he served as a founding member of the movement to create an MBA Oath.[18]
[edit] References
- ^ World Economic Forum 2011 Young Global Leaders Honourees, March 9, 2011
- ^ Center For Strategic and International Studies, The Commission on Smart Global Health Policy, August 10, 2009
- ^ CFK named "TIME Magazine" Hero of Global Health
- ^ "TIME For Kids" Cover Story
- ^ Lightbox: Reflections of Hope from Young Women in the Kibera Slum © 2006
- ^ "Associated Press", Senator Obama Visits Nairobi Slum, August 27, 2006
- ^ Oklahoma City National Memorial 2008 Reflections of Hope Recipient
- ^ U.S. Marine Corps Officer Profile and Interview
- ^ Naval Institute Proceedings Article
- ^ ABC World News Story
- ^ [1]
- ^ Rye Barcott and Salim Mohamed Post 9-11 Letters
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ UNC School of Public Health 2007 Commencement
- ^ TED Fellows
- ^ MBA Oath
