Raoul J. Davion

Raoul J. Davion is the Co-chair of the MacArthur Foundation's "Africa Higher Education Initiative in the Program on Global Security and Sustainability. He represents the Foundation within the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, a collaboration of the MacArthur, Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Mellon, Kresge and Hewlett Foundations, and also has responsibilities for human rights programming in Mexico, Nigeria, and internationally.

"Prior to joining the Foundation in 2001, Davion was based in South Africa with the Institute of Natural Resources, a non-governmental organization in Pietermaritzburg. Within the Institute’s focus on the nexus between people and environment, he worked with nature conservation agencies and local government in South Africa to build community engagement with conservation and promote sustainable access to natural resources. There, Davion also worked on monitoring and evaluation, involving social and environmental impact assessments of proposed large scale development projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Before this Davion worked at the African Development Bank, where he interned with the Bank’s Social and Environmental Policy division, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago.

"Davion obtained his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, where he received the Henry Richardson Labouisse fellowship. His masters degree focused on rural development and was awarded by the University of KwaZulu Natal. He is currently completing his doctorate."