Crotty '94 to take charge of study abroad program

Margaret Crotty '94 went on a foreign exchange trip to France as a high school sophomore and hasn't looked back.

Next week she will become president and CEO of AFS Intercultural Programs, a nonprofit that organizes exchange trips for high school students, and be responsible for sending high schoolers on exchanges just like the one she had.

"She has a lot of relevant background," said Kimberly Ritrievi '80, chair of the AFS board of directors. "At the time we hired her, she was working for an organization with a small staff and many volunteers, which is how AFS is structured ... She also has background in for-profit education and education travel."

Crotty, who majored in history at the University, spent a summer during college working on a community service project in Morocco. "It was my first time living in a Muslim country, my first time living anywhere in Africa, my first time living in tropical weather and my first time eating with my hands," she said in an email. "I think my biggest realization that summer was that I could go anywhere in the world and get along with and work with people, and that we could make a difference together."

The trip gave her "an interesting and, at that point, new lens from which to view the communities I was part of," she said, and led her to write her senior thesis on residential segregation and the fear-based roots of racism and prejudice in African-American cultures.

After graduating from Harvard Business School in 2000, Crotty worked for an internet company that taught English online to millions of people in over 120 countries. She also spent time working in the private sector in various international locations, including Shanghai, Hong Kong and Paris.

Crotty also worked as a consultant for Save the Children, an independent charity that strives to end child poverty. Crotty spent time in its numerous field offices, including Jakarta, Aceh, West Java and Nusa Tengarra, while chronicling the community development efforts of the organization. During her time in Indonesia, Crotty learned Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, witnessed the community efforts of native women and had her own brush with death.

"I was on a ferry that sunk off the coast of Aceh and ended up spending 18 hours in the sea and swimming about 33 miles. I was finally rescued from the tip of an island," she said. "It was really incredibly sad and tragic — over 400 people died, and only 43 survived. I was very lucky."

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After that experience, Aceh holds a special place in Crotty's heart. Right after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Crotty returned to Aceh for a consulting project.

The AFS board, Ritrievi said, was "impressed by all the different venues she had worked in." She added that the Board was also taken by Crotty's enthusiasm and articulate nature.

Leading AFS forward

Crotty said she has a number of goals for the company, including drastically increasing the number of Americans AFS sends abroad, engaging more Muslim students, establishing a stronger web presence and "working with corporations and NGOs to engage students around the world in working for the environment, on energy issues, on global warming and on poverty."

"I believe in the mission of AFS — we work for peace and justice in the world," Crotty said. "I am so grateful for my international experience and for the transformational experience that it has had on me, and I hope that we can bring that experience to many more students around the world. It is a leadership experience that creates global citizens."

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Established in 1915, AFS is a global, nonprofit organization that specializes in high school student exchange. AFS-USA is the biggest student exchange organization in the United States and sends more than 1,500 students to more than 40 countries annually.