Sam Vaghar (born August 19, 1986) is an American social entrepreneur and Executive Director and co-founder of the Millennium Campus Network.

Early life

Sam Vaghar was born in Birmingham, England, and raised in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. As a child growing up, he was diagnosed with

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...

. A trip in his teenage years to

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

exposed him to the challenges of poverty. After enrolling at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

, Vaghar began to engage in social activism, initially organizing a bi-partisan bus trip to President Bush's inauguration in 2005. During this time, Vaghar read Mountains Beyond Mountains about the work of Dr.

Paul Farmer Paul Edward Farmer (October 26, 1959 – February 21, 2022) was an American medical anthropology, medical anthropologist and physician. Farmer held an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he was a Harvard University Professor, University ...

and Partners in Health. Vaghar then read

The End of Poverty ''The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time'' () is a 2005 book by American economist Jeffrey Sachs. It was a ''New York Times'' bestseller. In the book, Sachs argues that extreme poverty—defined by the World Bank as incomes of ...

by economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. As a college sophomore, Vaghar cold-called Dr. Sachs' office and met with his staff two days later in New York City. Back on campus, Vaghar and friend Seth Werfel later co-founded the Millennium Campus Network in the summer of 2007. Vaghar graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International & Global Studies from Brandeis University in 2008.

Millennium Campus Network

Vaghar serves as Executive Director of the Millennium Campus Network. In this capacity, Vaghar engages with numerous MCN allies, including sponsors like

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

and The Jenzabar Foundation as well as MCN Advisors including Jeffrey Sachs and

. His primary responsibilities center on fundraising and outreach. Vaghar has represented the MCN in engaging with numerous global leaders including President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

. In addition to his role with MCN, Vaghar serves as an Advisor to the Executive Director of UN Women as a member of her Civil Society Advisory Group.

Awards and recognition

Honorary Doctorate from Monmouth College and 2020 Commencement Speaker. Gleitsman Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Honorary Doctorate from Becker College and 2018 Honors Convocation Distinguished Speaker Profiled in The Boston Globe and Fast Company. 2013 Commencement Speaker, Lynn University Selected to the 2012 list of the "Top 99 most influential foreign policy leaders under the age of 33" by The Diplomatic Courier and

Young Professionals in Foreign Policy Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) is a United States Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, Nonpartisanism, nonpartisan organization that works to train the next generation of foreign policy leadership. The group was founded by Joshua Marcu ...

Selected as one of ten young American leaders from across the nation to share perspectives with President

in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in June 2011 Invited by the US State Department as Featured Speaker across

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, September 2011 2010 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year, awarded to the MCN (accepted by Will Herberich and Sam Vaghar) by The Jenzabar Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaghar, Sam 1986 births Living people Brandeis University alumni