Karen Levy

1996

Karen Levy

Tawasal Institute

Lamu, Kenya

Community Improvement & Economic Development

The Bold Idea:

Tawasal Institute was founded to promote community-based sustainable development in Lamu, Kenya.  It is still operating.

Biography:

Karen is currently the Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Kenya.  IPA applies rigorous research techniques to develop and test solutions to real-world problems faced by the poor in developing countries. Karen received her BA from Brown University in 1994, and her MSc in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics in 2000.  In her (not so) spare time, she is working on finishing her PhD in Development Planning at University College London.  In 2002 she was awarded the Frederick Bonnart-Braunthal Scholarship for academic research 'related to the causes and consequences of intolerance, and the nature of religious, racial, and cultural prejudices'. Karen has lived, studied, and worked in Kenya for 12 of the last 15 years.