Social entrepreneur finds energy in student-designed major for global impact

After her mom found The College of Wooster in a book, Colleges That Change Lives, Boston native Lauren Grimanis ’12 applied to all east coast schools except for one. She came to campus for a field hockey recruiting visit and knew instantly that Wooster was the place for her. “Wooster gave me the best feeling of community,” recalls Grimanis. “The team was just like a family, and I didn’t feel that with schools on the east coast.” 

She valued Wooster’s ability to instill a hunger in its students to be curious and explore the world, and she took advantage of many opportunities to learn something new, from courses and speakers, to clubs, sports, and student government (Scot Council). That said, Grimanis didn’t feel like there was a home for her in any academic majors or department, so she worked with faculty advisors to create her own student-designed major in global development and management inspired by two experiences. 

 In summer 2007, before her senior year in high school, Grimanis volunteered in Ghana where she founded The Akaa Project to improve education and create opportunities for families in the Akaa community of Eastern Ghana. The organization established a school (that’s now been operational for 15 years) serving around 100 students annually in grades K-6 who didn’t previously have access to education. Once at the College, she participated in the inaugural Global Social Entrepreneurship Program led by Amyaz Moledina, professor of economics and business economics. The semester-long course ended with five weeks in Bangalore, India where Grimanis and classmates interned with the nonprofit Dream a Dream, ​​which helped​​ develop life skills for kids from vulnerable backgrounds.  

 Moledina later advised Grimanis on an Akaa-inspired independent study where she researched how to ​manage water resources, and later received funding to build two clean water wells and set up women-driven management committees. “It was really impactful for me to take theory and put it into practice,” she said.  

 Grimanis appreciates Wooster’s openness to creating a major that worked for her and was able to combine international relations/political science, business/economics, and social entrepreneurship. “It allowed me to expand my interests which led directly to supporting my career.”  

 She spent 2014-2016 growing the Akaa Project’s potential working locally on the ground in Ghana before pursuing an MBA from the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business. Today, Grimanis works as the venture success lead at Rippleworks, a foundation that provides practical support for impactful social entrepreneurs and their teams—both non-profits and mission driven for-profit organizations—so that they can improve more lives through their work.  

 “Rippleworks is sector and geographic agnostic which is unique for a foundation. For me, this makes my work continually new and interesting,” explained Grimanis. Her efforts integrate support for these social ventures through Rippleworks’ services of operational based projects, capital grants and debt, and talent development workshops. “It’s a joy and an inspiration to interact with leaders from social ventures all over the world on a weekly basis, and I’m honored to be able to support them,” said Grimanis.  

Featured Image: Through Rippleworks, Grimanis (right) works with Sanku, an organization working to end malnutrition in Africa by ensuring food fortification with life-saving nutrients in Arusha, Tanzania.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 edition of Wooster Magazine.

Posted in Alumni, Magazine on March 25, 2024.