Scholar Performance
Tessa was featured with her chamber group on the national radio program 'From the Top'.
Scholar Films
Harun's most recent film, In the Name of the Son, is based on his experiences growing up in wartime Bosnia
Jeffrey M Miller
"I never would have guessed that a storm would have such a seminal impact on my life. As I gazed across the devastated Honduran countryside, however, I knew my life's work would revolve around alleviating this level of disease and poverty."
- Alumni of: 2005 Graduate Scholarship Program
- Resides: San Francisco, CA
- Hometown: Seattle, Arizona
- Age: 33
- Four-year College or University: Northwestern University
- Graduate School: Harvard University
- Academic/Career Pursuits: Entrepreneur / Independent Business, International Economic Development, Nonprofits, Public Policy
Biography
Jeff Miller first encountered the harsh realities of global poverty when, as a college sophomore, he ventured to Honduras to aid in reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Mitch. He found himself deeply affected by the "squalid living conditions, untreated illnesses, and malnourished children" he encountered. Two years later, as a World Teach volunteer living with a rural Costa Rican family, he found himself "no longer a casual observer of global poverty; rather, those suffering from limited financial, educational, and health resources were my students, my friends, my family, my whole existence." The experience fueled his commitment to pursue a career in international relief and development.
Two years after graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern University, Jeff signed on to advise a nonprofit group about its micro-enterprise development project in Uzbekistan. He helped the NGO develop a computerized financial system that staved off imminent bankruptcy by giving it a better grip on costs and the fees it should charge growers. He also devised a plan to identify leaders among the grower families who could communicate the project's long-term vision to others and, as he says, "open dialogue that would defuse rumors and engender trust." The project now is self-sustainable, a Central Asian microfinance model that succeeds where others continue to struggle.
Ultimately, Jeff hopes to run a multinational relief and development organization that "forges working relationships between the public, private, and non-profit sectors in order to collaboratively develop innovative, multidimensional, market-based solutions to global poverty."
Other Scholars Like Jeffrey
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