Claire Bangser

I strive to learn from and create strong communities wherever I go. In college I led a group of students interested in global issues, working together to organize events, discussions, film festivals, town hall meetings, a globally-focused magazine, and community outreach for refugee populations in St Louis. I've also created several educational workshops and programs focused on surfacing unheard voices and promoting cross-cultural learning. In Mali, I worked with a community of rural women farmers and took this experience with me to my current job, where I focus on women's issues globally. Most recently I've started a housing cooperative in Washington DC.

the third peak of Mt Seymour in Vancouver, beneath the baobab trees in Dogon Country, at the Kalikan women's cooperative in Bamako, reading at Meshuggah Cafe in St Louis, at the Scrabble table with my mom in CT, in music-filled rooms with friends, anywhere on my bike.

I would like to see 6 billion small deeds done by 6 billion people every day just for the sake of making each other happy and a little bit better off. A world where all humans view other humans as people. A global "us".

I am the Program Coordinator for the Young Champions of Maternal Health Program at Ashoka. I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in African Studies, and minors in French and Art. While in college, I spent a semester abroad in Mali, where I worked with a very entrepreneurial women’s farming cooperative and became interested in global women’s issues. I have also been involved with a number of different educational programs targeting youth in DC, St. Louis, and Harlem. When not at work, I like to bake bread, farm, make art and music, bike, and adventure in the wilderness.