Today at Brown

In the summer of 2006, Emma Clippinger ’09 of Cambridge, Mass., and Emily Morell (Yale ’09) were interns with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) in Rwanda, working for universal access to the antiretroviral drug therapy that could sustain sufferers’ lives. As the summer went on, the two young women saw another obstacle to the foundation’s good work.

Emma Clippinger, center, works alongside cooperative farmers in Rwanda. Photo: Julie Carney “We were troubled by the critical ‘nutrition gap’,” says Clippinger. She explains that a sustainable source of good food is necessary for effective HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment. Ninety percent of the Rwandan population engages in subsistence farming, growing predominantly bananas and corn, she says. “This means that Rwandans consume too much starch and not enough other nutrients.

“In the fall of 2006,” Clippinger continues, “Emily and I began raising money to develop a pilot project that would help establish community gardens for cooperatives of HIV-positive individuals.” The result was Gardens for Health International (GHI), a nonprofit organization that partners with the Rwandese Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS to serve nearly 1,000 community groups in promoting improved nutrition through sustainable agriculture training and nutrition education. In addition to a country director – a recent Yale alumna – GHI employs a community garden agronomist, a biointensive agricultural assistant, and a project coordinator.

“Emily and I initiated this project,” Clippinger says, “because we believed it could become a fully integrated government program, supported by a coalition of [Rwandan] government ministries and agencies. We believe we can achieve this integration within the next year.”

On November 20, Clippinger and Morell learned they were selected from among 100 entrants in the United States and France as the global winners of the Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur competition, co-sponsored by the Staples Foundation for Learning and Ashoka, an organization of leading social entrepreneurs. The prize includes $5,000 worth of Staples products to help run GHI, including a laptop computer, a printer, a digital camera, and other office supplies.

A Rwandan farmer harvests carrots. Photo: Julie Carney “In 2006, before GHI had even received nonprofit status,” Clippinger says, “Ashoka's Youth Venture gave us our very first grant. Two years later, we feel as though we have come full circle with this award – it’s particularly exciting.”

Earlier this fall, Clippinger was named one of 44 winners of student grants from the Clinton Global Initiative and the Wal-Mart Foundation for her work with GHI. In June, she was featured in a Washington Post article, “The Amazing Adventures of Supergrad,” as a “passionate, resourceful young woman poised to make her mark on the world.” Clippinger is also a member of Brown’s varsity equestrian team.