June Man of the Month: Marc Sommers, PhD

As a child, Marc loved looking at National Geographic magazines, especially at his Uncle’s home on New Year’s Day. That’s where young Marc went with his family to celebrate.  Not much for the adult conversation upstairs, Marc would slip away to the basement and lose himself in exotic photos of far-away places.  At 12, he decided he was going to go to the Serengeti.
Not only did he get there, but he has dedicated much of his adult life to working with young people, primarily in Africa—19 countries and counting.  Marc Sommers, who is fluent in Swahili, is an internationally recognized youth, conflict, education, gender, and development expert, an experienced evaluator, and an award-winning author. He has provided technical advice and policy analysis, and conducted research, assessments and evaluations in 21 war-affected countries.
Marc’s first position in Africa was as Headmaster of a girls’ high school in Kenya, at the ripe old age of 23. That experience was his initiation into gender issues—he had to, as he explained to me, “Defend my students.” From there, Marc spent several transformative years in New York City, working first as a freelance photographer (and an excellent one—I have had the pleasure of seeing some of his work up close) and then with the Red Cross.  Marc witnessed, first-hand, the devastation homelessness brings, particularly to women and children.
From NYC he studied anthropology at Boston University. At the suggestion of his academic...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - June 1, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Global Health Man of the Month Source Type: blogs