Neal Keny-Guyer '82, CEO, Mercy Corps, Speaks at Commencement

Neal Keny-Guyer '82 spoke at SOM's Commencement ceremonies on Monday, May 26, 2003. Keny-Guyer has served as CEO of Mercy Corps since 1994. Under his leadership, Mercy Corps has emerged as a leading international relief organization with operations in 29 countries, a staff of 2,000 and an annual operating budget in excess of $125 million.

Keny-Guyer can be characterized as a "social entrepreneur." His career has led him from troubled schools in American inner cities (with Cities-in-Schools 1976-1980) all the way to Thailand in 1980 to provide emergency relief services to Cambodian refugees with CARE/UNICEF. With Save the Children, Keny-Guyer designed and implemented high-impact relief and development programs in Lebanon, Somalia, Pakistan, the West Bank, Gaza and Afghanistan. As director of Save the Children's Middle East, Europe and North Africa programs, he managed a $44 million budget and a staff of 900 in ten countries. On his return to the United States in 1990, Keny-Guyer founded a strategic planning and organizational development consulting firm in Menlo Park, targeting businesses, foundations and nonprofits.