DAI Staffer Runner-Up for Prestigious Rice Award

May 27, 2015

DAI is pleased to announce that Caity Campos, an Associate on DAI’s Technical Services team, has been selected as a runner-up for the Society for International Development (SID) 2015 Andrew E. Rice Award.

Andrew E. Rice, a founder and visionary of SID was a tireless advocate of promoting and mentoring youth in development. The Andrew E. Rice Award for Leadership and Innovation by a Young Professional in International Development recognizes the achievements of an exceptional young professional working in the field of international development.

Campos founded Global-7 (G-7) in 2008 after a year as an exchange student in the underdeveloped community of Los Platanos, Argentina. More than 150 people attended her first fundraiser which raised $17,000, including donations from Coca-Cola and the Nike Foundation. Since then G-7 has funded the whole operation through similar initiatives, with 100 percent of funds—amounting to roughly $15,000 per year—going to program activities.

In 2013, G-7 focused its efforts on motivating at-risk youth and expanded its mission to reach rural communities, which receive little to no international aid. G-7 has created opportunities for youth to connect with each other as teammates, peers in tutoring sessions, and collaborators to improve their community in a neighborhood where the idea of shared responsibility is limited. In 2014, G-7 created a gender strategy designed to assist the numerous single mothers and female high school dropouts.

“Since September 2013, I have had the great opportunity to expand my knowledge of development practice at DAI, an experience that has only deepened my commitment to work with the most vulnerable populations, fight for gender equality, and empower at-risk youth,” said Campos. “I believe my on-the-ground experience has enhanced my contributions to DAI’s team, and the new ideas I am trying to bring to the firm as a development entrepreneur.”