For Wisdom Zotor, SIS/MS ’26, working in development and poverty alleviation comes from a very personal place.

Growing up in a remote village in Ghana, Zotor was one of 10 children. When his father died while Zotor was just two years old, he and his family were forced to ration food.

“I would go to school with an empty stomach, and then after school around 2 p.m. I would come home and eat. Basically, that was how my life was,” Zotor said in a recent interview. “That is one of the reasons that has really driven me to this area of development and focusing on poverty alleviation—because I have experienced poverty.”

Zotor is graduating this spring with his master’s in Development Management from the School of International Service (SIS) and has been selected as the graduate speaker for this year’s commencement ceremony on May 9. We sat down with Zotor to learn more about his career path and SIS journey ahead of Commencement.

Finding Purpose

The day Zotor made the decision to pursue a career in poverty alleviation is still vivid in his mind. On his way home from school, he had stopped at an orange farm near his home. Noticing some fruit that had fallen from the trees, Zotor picked it up to eat. 

“It’s common practice in Ghana that if you pass by a farm or plantation and there is fruit on the ground, you can pick and eat it,” Zotor said. “You cannot climb to pick fruit, but if it’s on the ground it’s okay.”

The owner of the farm, however, thought Zotor was a thief and beat him, leaving him with a deep gash on his face. For a month, Zotor couldn’t talk or eat solid food as the cut was healing. Amid the pain of recovery, he had a revelation.

“One night when I was lying down in pain, I remember thinking, ‘I will make sure none of my family members go through this again. I will make sure other people do not experience what I’m experiencing,’” Zotor recalled.

Those experiences acted as a launchpad for helping others. After earning his first degree from the University of Education, Winneba, Zotor began working as a project director with Compassion International—a U.S.-based nonprofit that seeks to alleviate child poverty around the world.

As project director, Zotor worked in a remote village without potable water or electricity, leading a child development center that served 250 children living in poverty. During that time, he also helped ensure access to clean water for the people living in the village and helped establish a school for the village children.

“I lived and worked in that village for three years, and it was one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever had,” Zotor said.

Currently, Zotor serves as the executive director of Girls Empowerment Ghana—a charitable organization that has supported more than 1,400 girls through education, mentorship, and protection programs. He is also CEO of FarmAsyst Limited, an agritech startup supporting over 4,600 smallholder farmers in Ghana through access to agricultural inputs and services.

After a few years of learning on the job, Zotor ultimately decided he wanted to pursue coursework to bolster his knowledge in development management and fill gaps he was encountering in his work. Thus began his journey to the School of International Service.

Community and Coursework at SIS

Zotor initially heard about American University (AU) through a friend pursuing a degree at AU’s Kogod School of Business. Seeking a program that he could tailor to his interests, Zotor opted for the Master of Science in Development Management at SIS, which prepares professionals with at least four years of work experience for leadership and management within development organizations.

At SIS, Zotor found his studies directly applicable to situations he had experienced as a development professional in the field. His coursework—which included courses in project management, international development, and public administration—opened his eyes afresh to factors that impact how poverty interventions and development efforts are delivered and received.

“I’ve had several ‘aha’ moments in the program,” Zotor said. “SIS has really changed my thinking. Whilst working in the field, I really thought good intentions alone were enough to do development work. For example, ‘Oh, I want to build a school for this community.’ It’s good to have very clean intentions, but if you don't check how power and institutions work, you might end up building a school that will not serve the purpose for which it's supposed to be.”

Beyond coursework, Zotor also found a vast network of supportive faculty, staff, and fellow students.

Before ever setting foot on campus, Zotor said members of the graduate admissions team supported him through the application and enrollment process—and have continued to support him during his graduate experience, which he describes as “extremely meaningful.”

He has also benefitted from getting to know his classmates and professors as both colleagues and friends. As a self-described introvert, Zotor said he has found “comfort among colleagues.”

“One of the things that has been really very beneficial to me is the kind of community that I found amongst my colleagues, students, and even the professors,” he said. “There are some professors that I took their course, and they've become like a friend to me. If I'm writing a research paper and I'm struggling with it, professors here will help me out. For example, Professor [Scott] Freeman recently helped me when I was working on a paper and getting stranded. I talked to him about every two weeks, and he meets me to look at the paper. You don't normally get this from other places, so that is one of the things that really is going to stay with me for the rest of my life.”

To Commencement and Beyond

Through his speech at Commencement, Zotor plans to share his story about growing up in poverty and share how his coursework at SIS has changed his perspective and approach to development work.

“I want to hone in on how SIS has really changed my understanding of development and inspired me into the future,” Zotor said.

After graduation, Zotor says he hopes to pursue a PhD program focused on poverty intervention design and implementation while carrying forward all that he has learned during his time at SIS.