Richard was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia. After studying Physics at Georgia Tech, he joined the Peace Corps as an Education volunteer in Mozambique, teaching Physics at a high school in the northern province of Zambezia. While unfortunately the global pandemic cut Richard’s time with the Peace Corps short, it began a career transition into global development.

After returning from Mozambique, Richard completed the MicroMasters certificate program at MIT, earning a certificate in Data, Economics, and Development Policy. Additionally, during the pandemic shutdown, Richard coordinated a masking campaign in his former post in Mozambique. Richard later interned at CatComm, a Brazilian non-profit, where he helped community groups in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas apply for American grant funds to fund solar panel projects. Most recently, between 2021 and 2023, Richard worked at DAI, one of USAID’s largest implementing partners, where he was a data analyst.

Throughout his time working in the development sector and studying development policy, Richard has become increasingly motivated by the role data can bring in implementing effective solutions to challenging development problems. After GHD, he hopes to help members of the development community be most effective in their impact given their limited budgets.

Why GHD?

GHD prioritizes professional growth and specialization in areas in interest in a way few other programs do, allowing me to explore my interests in development economics with hands on experience.