John Garrison, joined the World Bank in 1996 as a Civil Society Specialist. He spent the first five years working in the Bank’s office in Brasilia, Brazil where he carried out applied research, organized outreach activities, and helped supervise Bank projects, all related to improving World Bank – civil society relations. In 2002 he joined the Bank’s Civil Society Team (CST) which coordinates the Bank’s civil society engagement work at the global level. Current activities include working to formulate Bank-wide strategy, providing advice to senior management, reaching out to international civil society networks, and disseminating information on the Bank.
Before joining the Bank, John spent most of his career working with international development and human rights issues. He has worked with a variety of non-governmental, church-based, and governmental organizations in Brazil, Latin America, and the United States. John holds a masters degree in Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University and has published numerous articles and reports on grassroots development and civil society in NGO, government, and World Bank publications.
Photo credit: Naomi Williams