Lisa Dolberry Hancock
Lisa Dolberry Hancock is the Director of Learning and Innovation at Columbia World Projects. She brings over 25 years of experience designing, implementing, and leading philanthropic programs to strengthen the capacity of people and organizations to advance positive change in communities. At Columbia World Projects, she directs a portfolio of initiatives designed to empower emerging leaders addressing societal challenges and foster the exchange of ideas about innovative approaches to social impact. Lisa joined Columbia World Projects in 2018 as the founding director of the Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University. The program, which she developed in partnership with the Obama Foundation and directed for four years, connects and supports the development of rising leaders from across sectors around the world who are committed to solving challenges in their communities and countries.
Before joining Columbia World Projects, Lisa spent a decade at Goldman Sachs where she served as a Vice President for Corporate Engagement, directing a portfolio of partnerships with leading universities investing in initiatives to increase higher education access for promising youth in the U.S.; directing employee community engagement, leading the creation of pro bono advisory programs to strengthen non-profit organizations and small businesses around the world; and overseeing grants administration and stewardship for the Goldman Sachs Foundation, which partnered with a global network of educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to strengthen women-owned enterprises in emerging economies and small businesses in the U.S. and U.K. Earlier in her career, Lisa developed and managed philanthropic programs focused on increasing access and opportunity in higher education, international affairs, and the arts at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Council on Foreign Relations, Time Warner, and TCC Group (formerly The Conservation Company consultancy). She is a board member of the Brooklyn Arts Council. Lisa holds a Master of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Science in International Area Studies (Latin America and Economics) from Drexel University.