Saru Duckworth

As an Associate for the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, Saru supports the team to advance its global advocacy, research and strategy development, and administrative work towards the goal of reaching 21 million more people living in extreme poverty with holistic support by 2026. Her work supports the Initiative’s efforts to elevate its agenda in global conversations around social protection and extreme poverty and drive progress on SDG 1. She also serves as a member of BRAC’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council.

Prior to joining BRAC, Saru worked to deliver climate change and adaptation programming for vulnerable communities in Africa and South Asia, first as an Emergency Unit intern supporting disaster response in UNICEF’s Myanmar Country office and then as a climate change intern and representative for Mercy Corps to the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance. Her original research and data analysis contributed to several technical reports, including “At What Cost: How chronic gaps in adaptation finance expose the world’s poorest people to climate chaos” (Mercy Corps & ZFRA, 2020). Outside of BRAC, Saru teaches virtual civics and rights-based English classes to South Asian immigrants with the Queens-based nonprofit Chhaya Community Development Corporation.

Saru earned a B.A. in International Affairs and a minor in French Language, Literature, and Culture from the George Washington University, where she was the recipient of multiple undergraduate research awards and served as President and Manager of GW’s student food pantry working to combat food insecurity on campus.