Connie Duckworth

Founder and CEO of ARZU, Inc.
Social entrepreneur Connie K. Duckworth founded ARZU, which means “hope” in Dari, as a non-profit organization to empower destitute women rug weavers in rural Afghanistan. From a starting point of 30 weavers, ARZU has transformed into a learning laboratory for holistic grassroots economic development—today employing some 500 Afghans and supporting an eco-system of education, maternal health and community programs.

Ms. Duckworth is a retired Partner and Managing Director of Goldman, Sachs, & Co., where she was named the first woman sales and trading partner in the firm’s history during her 20-year career. She is a Trustee of Equity Residential (EQR) in Chicago and a Director of Steelcase Inc. (SCS) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In her philanthropic work, Ms. Duckworth is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, an Overseer of The Wharton School, and a board member of NorthShore University HealthSystem, in Evanston, Illinois, where she served as the first woman Chairman of the Board. She is a founding member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative Policy Advisory Council.

The recipient of numerous awards for leadership, social impact and innovation, Ms. Duckworth holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She is married to husband Tom and the mother of four children.

Term: 1/1/2014 - 12/31/2018