Neal Keny-Guyer

 
Neal Keny-Guyer is a "social entrepreneur" with a calling to help the disadvantaged. A native of Tennessee, Keny-Guyer earned his B.A. in public policy and religion from Duke University, a Masters of Public and Private Management from Yale, and Doctor of Humane Letters (Hon.) from Portland State University.

Keny-Guyer joined Mercy Corps in 1994 as Chief Executive Officer. During his leadership, Mercy Corps has emerged as a leading international relief and development agency with programs in more than 35 countries, over 2,500 staff, and an annual operating budget of $200 million. He has forged new organizational directions – most notably, globalizing operations through mergers and strategic alliances, placing peace-making, human rights, and civil society at the heart of its humanitarian mission, and building an organizational reputation for innovative and entrepreneurial practices.

Keny-Guyer's career began in America's troubled inner cities in 1976. As Special Projects Coordinator for Cities-In-Schools (a nationwide organization known now as Communities-In-Schools), he worked with at-risk youth to stem high school drop-out rates and gang activity among minority young people in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1980, Keny-Guyer moved to Thailand to aid Cambodian refugees. As Field Coordinator for CARE/UNICEF, he organized an emergency relief program along the Thai-Cambodian border, including cross-border distribution of food and agricultural supplies.

With Save the Children over the next nine years, Keny-Guyer designed and implemented high-impact relief and development programs in some of the world's most war-torn and politically sensitive regions including Somalia, Lebanon, West Bank/Gaza, Afghanistan/Pakistan, and Sudan. As Director of the agency's Middle East, Europe, and North Africa programs, Keny-Guyer managed a $44 million budget and supervised 900 staff in 10 countries.

In 1990, Keny-Guyer focused his efforts stateside, founding Keny-Guyer Associates in Menlo Park, California to offer strategic planning and organizational development consulting to businesses, foundations and non-profit agencies. In addition, he undertook his toughest assignment as a year-long home dad for his first born child.

Keny-Guyer serves on the boards of local and national organizations, including InterAction, an alliance of humanitarian and development organizations, Yale School of Management Board of Advisors, and Nike Foundation Advisory Group.