Pooja Virani is a senior program associate at the Aspen Institute. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, Pooja consulted for various international development organizations, developing business, financial, and strategic plans for Mercy Corp's youth leadership and global citizenship program in the Middle East, a sports for development social enterprise in Bolivia, and a food security and nutrition NGO in Kenya. Most recently, she worked with Ashoka to conduct an impact analysis of its global network of social entrepreneurs. Pooja also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Paraguay, where she advised agricultural production cooperatives, trained municipal employees, established youth and women's committees, and taught health and environmental education. She holds a dual degree MBA in nonprofit management and MA in sustainable international development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, and a BA in international studies and BA in economics from American University.