Vivian Lowery Derryck

Vivian Lowery Derryck is the founder and president emerita of the Bridges Institute (Bridges), a non-profit she launched in 2009 to help strengthen African governance and democracy. Bridges’ programs bring together continental Africans and the Diaspora to examine issues of governance, corruption, race, equity and women’s rights.

In 2020, following George Floyd’s murder, Bridges launched a new initiative, Concerned Citizens Defending Democracy, which focuses on strengthening U.S. democracy in a global context, with special attention to the African Diaspora, and social justice and racial conciliation.

Earlier in her career Vivian taught at New York City Technical College and the University of Liberia. She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for EEO and Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of State; the Senate-confirmed Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID; president of the African-American Institute; executive vice president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW); vice president of the National Democratic Institute; and senior vice president of the former Academy for Educational Development.

A graduate of Chatham College (BA), with a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and a certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies from Harvard, she serves on non-profit boards including Femmes/Afrique/Solidarité, the Woodrow Wilson Center Africa Program Advisory Council, the Jane Goodall Institute Tanzania, and the 2022-established nine-member Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Racial Equity Advisory Board.

A 2011 Purpose Prize Fellow, some of Vivian’s other awards include the Guggenheim Humanitarian Award, National Council of Negro Women Martin Luther King Service Award, UNICEF Achievement Award, African Union 2015 African Women of Excellence Award, 2019 UN National Capital Area Perdita Huston Human Rights Award and an honorary doctorate. Two endowed Fellowships in Sustainable Development were established in her name at Howard University in 2020, and in 2021 she was named a Knight of the National Order of Mali by the Malian government.