Civic Leadership: How Are We Doing?
Rajiv Vinnakota is the seventh president of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation). Prior to joining C&S in July 2019, Vinnakota served as the EVP of the Youth & Engagement division at the Aspen Institute. For 18 years, Vinnakota was the co-founder and CEO of The SEED Foundation, the nation’s first network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools for underserved children. In addition to being a former trustee and executive committee member for Princeton University, Vinnakota is the former national chair of its annual giving committee. He majored in molecular biology and also earned a certificate of studies from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs & Public Policy.
A renowned scholar and innovator in higher education and global justice reform and graduate of Wesleyan University and Yale Law, Hiram Chodosh is president of Claremont McKenna College, a recognized leader in freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and constructive dialogue through CMC’s nationally recognized Open Academy. Chodosh has also worked closely with Vinnakota and the Institute for Citizens and Scholars on a large national collaboration of college and university presidents to raise levels of civic preparedness and leadership.
A lawyer by training, Vernon C. Grigg III, Executive Director of the Kravis Lab for Civic Leadership, holds degrees from Yale Law School (J.D.), the London School of Economics (G.SC.), and the University of Michigan (BA). Grigg comes to the Kravis Lab from his role as CEO & President of Up with People, a fifty-five-year-old international nonprofit education and arts organization where he managed a global team of 50 employees across three continents and led the nonprofit to sustainability and health despite the challenges of the worldwide pandemic.
This discussion on civic leadership is co-sponsored by the President's Leaders Forum and the Kravis Lab for Civic Leadership.