Yale School of Management - Neal Keny-Guyer '82

"Yale SOM profoundly influenced my future. First, I gained a fuller appreciation of the relationship between leadership and organizational effectiveness, along with the beginnings of a tool kit which I have applied throughout my career. Secondly, through the inaugural internship fund and support from the Dean, Yale SOM provided me with the opportunity to work in refugee camps along the Thailand/Cambodia border applying principles of crises management to refugee relief. Finally, friendships, which began at Yale SOM, continue to provide support, guidance, accountability, and inspiration."

Neal Keny-Guyer is a social entrepreneur with a calling to help the disadvantaged. A native of Tennessee, Mr. Keny-Guyer earned his BA in public policy and religion from Duke University, master’s in public and private management from the Yale School of Management, and doctor of humane letters (Hon.) from Portland State University.

Mr. 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 forty countries, over 4,000 staff, and an annual operating budget of over $300 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.

Mr. 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, Mr. 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, Mr. 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, Mr. Keny-Guyer managed a $44 million budget and supervised 900 staff in ten countries.

In 1990, Mr. Keny-Guyer focused his efforts stateside, offering strategic planning and organizational development consulting to businesses, foundations, and nonprofit agencies. In addition, he undertook his toughest assignment as a year-long home dad for his first-born child.

Mr. 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. He was elected to the Yale Corporation as a Trustee, effective July 1, 2009, for a six year term.