Rachel Lewis ‘07
Executive Director, International Book Project
“As executive director of the International Book Project, I manage the donation of more than 200,000 books each year to schools and libraries throughout the developing world. The best part of my job is being able to partner with hard-working, motivated teachers and students and give them the books they need to improve education in their communities. However, this all takes quite a bit of planning and work. In a given week, I negotiate with publishers, motivate employees and volunteers, map ocean freight logistics, plan fundraising campaigns and prepare budgets. The reward is seeing the pictures of beaming students, excitedly reading their new books. Many of our school partners have almost no books in their classrooms, so when new books from IBP arrive it really is like Christmas!
When I enrolled in the Patterson School, I knew that I wanted to work at an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) upon graduation. I had experience working overseas, but I knew that I needed a master’s degree in international affairs to land a job in the highly competitive international nonprofit sector.
I primarily studied international economics and NGOs/IOs while at the Patterson School. The flexibility of the program allowed me to take classes tailored to my interests, including the history of Africa and nonprofit management. These classes have helped me improve the efficiency of IBP and understand the constraints our partners in the developing world often face. Additionally, the small class sizes gave me an opportunity to get to know the professors on a personal level and offered a great environment to discuss issues and learn from my classmates.
Because I knew that I would be working in the nonprofit sector, I was very concerned about the cost of attending graduate school. The Patterson School was a great value and allowed me to work in my chosen field directly out of school. For me, it was the perfect choice.”
After four years work as IBP Executive Director, Rachel Lewis entered the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University to further burnish her management credentials with an MBA.
