Valerie Stinger MBA ’78

Valerie Stinger MBA ’78
A Moroccan street scene as seen by Peace Corps volunteer Valerie Stinger MBA ’78

Consultant to biomedical companies and to international development organizations

Morocco 1999–2001

Stalled in commute traffic approaching South San Francisco, I had a realization. At age 52, I’d met my financial, professional, and personal goals. I either needed to change those goals to justify suffering my commute or else get out of the commute lane. I wanted to test life-long learning, to experience another culture, and give something back.

In Settat, Morocco, I taught business students and worked with a developing artisan business, planning to export representative Moroccan arts. I also helped tailor Camp GLOW (“Girls Leading Our World”) for adolescent girls.

I have continued to work with motivated entrepreneurs in developing countries: weavers in Lesotho, vendors in Sudan, farmers in Malawi and Ghana, businesspeople in the former Soviet Union, and women entrepreneurs in the Middle East. A couple of years ago, through International Executive Service Corps, I implemented a program in Juba, Southern Sudan, providing basic business skills and HIV/AIDS training. These strong people taught me two valuable lessons: one, about how much individuals can accomplish, even under difficult circumstances; and, two, about how valuable and tenuous our democracy is.

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