Cara Myers

Cara Myers is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Mozambique School Lunch Initiative (MSLI), a non-profit organization focused on developing "home-grown" school lunch programs in rural Mozambique. She began her work in Mozambique in 2013 with Samaritan's Purse, where her fluency in Portuguese enabled her to engage directly with local communities and understand their challenges better.12

Education and Background

Cara holds a Master's degree in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School, where she was recognized as a New World Social Enterprise Fellow and won the Harvard President's Innovation Challenge People's Choice Award for her contributions to MSLI.137 Her professional experience includes roles at various international development organizations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she worked on gender equality initiatives, and the World Bank, focusing on agricultural and educational projects.1

Contributions to MSLI

As the Director of Development and Innovation at MSLI, Cara is dedicated to improving child nutrition and educational outcomes by ensuring that school lunches are nutritious and sourced from local farmers. This initiative addresses food insecurity that often leads to children missing school due to hunger.16 Under her leadership, MSLI has successfully implemented programs that provide meals to thousands of students, significantly impacting their health and education.45

Vision

Cara Myers envisions a future where no child misses school due to hunger, leveraging data-driven approaches while fostering partnerships to expand the initiative's reach.1 Her work exemplifies a commitment to systemic change within the realm of education and nutrition in Mozambique.