{"id":25116,"date":"2025-09-25T12:14:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=25116"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:41:10","slug":"i-wanted-to-be-in-the-communities","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/25\/i-wanted-to-be-in-the-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I wanted to be in the communities\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

From global to grassroots, Solange Bandiaky-Badji, Ph.D. \u201908, is a leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been an exceptionally hectic \u2014 but productive \u2014 week for Solange Bandiaky-Badji\u00a0, Ph.D. \u201908. As coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative<\/a> (RRI) and president of the Rights and Resources Group, she has been in constant motion during Climate Week NYC<\/a> \u2014 networking with academic and political leaders, hosting events, and simultaneously planning for November\u2019s COP30<\/a> summit in Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between appointments, Bandiaky-Badji\u00a0 was able to snag a few minutes to chat with ClarkNow about her journey from Senegal to Clark, where she earned her doctorate in women\u2019s and gender studies, and to her leadership post with RRI, a global coalition of over 150 grassroots organizations and their allies, where she advises policy research, advocacy, and engagement in Asia, Latin America, and Africa on issues surrounding gender and climate change, Indigenous rights, natural resource management, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lou Leonard, D.J.A. Spencer Dean of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society, and Solange Bandiaky-Badji, Ph.D. \u201908, at Climate Week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bandiaky-Badji came to the U.S. from Senegal in 2002 as a Ford Foundation Fellow, which supported studies in community work and social and environmental justice. She was finishing up her master\u2019s degree in philosophy and environmental sciences when she realized that \u201cteaching wasn\u2019t what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in the communities and do development work.\u201d She volunteered at a YMCA in Senegal, leading a gender program and becoming a key contributor to a youth alliance. She launched a tree-planting initiative and spearheaded a program for women in prison, where she organized lectures about reproductive health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Ford Foundation offer was made, Bandiaky-Badji\u00a0opted to study in the United States so that she could become fluent in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n