Christopher Hedrick

Christopher Hedrick "Chris Hedrick"[1] (born 1962) is the Country Director for the U.S. Peace Corps in Senegal.[2][3] Peace Corps/Senegal is the largest Peace Corps program in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hedrick leads the Peace Corps efforts in malaria prevention in Senegal,[4] which are now being extended under his coordination to Peace Corps programs across Africa.[5][6] Hedrick led the development of the Peace Corps/Senegal Food Security initiative which is the largest USAID-funded Peace Corps food security project in the world under the global Feed the Future program.[7] The Peace Corps program in Senegal under Hedrick's leadership was awarded the prestigious Learning Spotlight Award in 2010 for innovation in its training programs.[8]

Until September 2007, he was the President and CEO of Intrepid Learning Solutions,[9] a Seattle, Washington-based learning services company which he co-founded in 1999 with Dennis Heck. Under his leadership, Intrepid was named by Inc. magazine[10] as one of the fastest growing companies in America.[11] Hedrick raised investments for Intrepid from venture capital companies Madrona Venture Group, FTV Capital, and Rustic Canyon Partners and from individuals including William H. Gates, Sr.

Previously, he served as the Technology Policy advisor to Gary Locke, the Governor of Washington state, subsequently U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador to China. During his tenure as the governor's advisor, Washington was named as the state government that most effectively used information technology.[12]

Prior to that he was the founding Director of Strategy and Operations for the Gates Library Foundation,[13] the predecessor organization to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Library Foundation grew out of a program called Libraries Online[14] that Hedrick created and managed[15] at Microsoft. At Microsoft, Hedrick was a prominent advocate of bridging the "digital divide."[16]

He has also been a senior administrator at the Peace Corps, where he worked for Carol Bellamy;[17] served in the administration of Washington Governor Booth Gardner; was elected to the Olympia, Washington School Board; and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and a graduate of Stanford University.

Until he moved back to Senegal, he was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Evergreen State College,[18] board member and Treasurer for the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH),[19] the largest recipient of Gates Foundation funding for global health, and the Chairman of the Board of the Digital Learning Commons.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ "Chris Hedrick Twitter page". Twitter. January 2, 2011. http://twitter.com/hedrickchris. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Peace Corps Senegal Facts". Peacecorps.gov. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.africa.senegal. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Peace Corps Senegal Web Site". Pcsenegal.org. http://www.pcsenegal.org. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Peace Corps Senegal Malaria information". Pcsenegal.org. http://www.pcsenegal.org/malaria/index.html. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Peace Corps news release on "Stomping Out Malaria" training". Peacecorps.gov. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1802. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  6. ^ "Peace Corps news release "Peace Corps and President's Malaria Initiative Announce Malaria Partnership"". Peacecorps.gov. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1770. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Peace Corps/Senegal Food Security program". Pcsenegal.org. http://www.pcsenegal.org/?page=food_security/index.html. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Learning 2010 Conference Learning Spotlight Award video". Learning2010.com. http://www.learning2010.com/Videos/learning-spotlight-peace-corps.htm. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Intrepid Learning Solutions". Intrepidls.com. http://www.intrepidls.com. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  10. ^ "Inc. Magazine". Inc.com. January 1, 1970. http://www.inc.com. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  11. ^ "2007 Inc. Magazine rankings". Inc.com. http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200700790. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  12. ^ Center for Digital Government and Progress and Freedom Foundation Digital State Award
  13. ^ "NY Times article on Gates Library Foundation launch". New York Times. June 24, 1997. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E0DB1631F937A15755C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  14. ^ "NY Times article on Libraries Online". New York Times. October 9, 1996. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6D6173EF93AA35753C1A960958260. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Microsoft has hired Hedrick to run the program". New York Times. October 9, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/09/nyregion/support-for-rural-and-inner-city-libraries.html?scp=3&sq=christopher%20hedrick&st=cse. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  16. ^ "A Nation Ponders it Growing Digital Divide". New York Times. October 21, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/21/business/a-nation-ponders-its-growing-digital-divide.html?scp=7&sq=chris%20hedrick&st=cse. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  17. ^ Hedrick gets Senior Job with the Peace Corps
  18. ^ Evergreen State College Trustees
  19. ^ Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)
  20. ^ "Digital Learning Commons". Learningcommons.org. http://www.learningcommons.org/about/dlc_board.php. Retrieved December 17, 2011.