Gretchen Zucker

Gretchen Zucker is the Executive Director of Ashoka’s Youth Venture®, a global organization that cultivates the entrepreneurial, “changemaker” talent needed for the success of all parts of society—corporate, civil and government.  She began her career focusing on development in Africa, first at USAID, then in the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, and later in the Ethiopian Investment Authority in Addis Ababa.  Gretchen helped launch the U.S. arm of Tigray Development Association, headquartered in Tigray, Ethiopia.  She was co-founder of Her House, which designed, financed and built houses by women for single mothers and raised awareness of issues involving women and housing.  Gretchen was also a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and led the Innovative Learning initiative at Ashoka.  Gretchen received a BA from Ohio State University, a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.