We had the opportunity to visit the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University, and speak with its Executive Director, Marcela Escobari, about the center’s mission and her career advice for anyone interested in development.

Oftentimes we think of development as a space for graduate practitioners or professionals with years of experience. But what about youth?

Bridging Communities in Development with Kerry Thompson and the Disability Rights Fund

International development is an exciting, thrilling, and unique field. The opportunity to work abroad, immerse in new cultures, and foster new relationships is in part one of the reasons why so many succumb to it. But how do we get there? How can we become successful development practicioners? This Tuesday, BNID had the opportunity to sit and speak with OLE (Open Learning and Exchange) Executive Director, Richard Rowe who provided his personal insight on the field as well as his experiences that led him to initiate OLE. Founder and CEO of OLE, Richard Rowe has worked in international development for an extended amount of time. Starting his career in psychology at UCLA as an undergraduate and then at Columbia University for his Ph.D, Rowe is not only an advocate of international development, but a psychologist understanding individual and group behavior. Speaking with Rowe, international development is a lot more than just initiating programs or donating laptops to a developing community, rather it’s more about human engagement. According to Rowe, he got into international development, “by accident.” “It was a combination of my upbringing and chance. I am the son of a Methodist minister, very concerned about social justice as a family and I always wanted to do something that would benefit the world, that was part of my DNA since the very beginning. First it was medicine, then the ministry, and I kind of fell into education,” says Rowe. Finishing up his Ph.D thesis on clinical psychology in Manhattan, he was granted an opportunity to go to the Virgin Islands both to work and to write his thesis. There, Rowe became the Director of the Test, Development, and Research office at the West African Examinations Council (WEAC), where he helped modernize the Educational Curriculum system of scholastic aptitude tests. Working and living abroad, that experience made him into an international cross cultural educational measurement specialist. Moving forward, his career brought him to South Africa and Nigeria, where one is his first daughters was born. Following education, Richard later served as Associate Dean, and Director of the Doctoral Program of Clinical Psychology at the Harvard School of Education. Head of the 1 Laptop per Child Foundation as well, Rowe left shortly to create OLE.