Soren Ambrose
Contents
Biography
"Soren Ambrose traces his interest in the environment and social justice to 1975, when he joined Greenpeace at age 12. But he began the “mature” phase of his political work through his academic work. He earned a Masters Degree in English Literature at the University of Chicago and completed most of the requirements for a Ph.D (including three chapters of a dissertation). His dissertation was on contemporary Nigerian literature and politics, and the research for it took him to Nigeria in 1992. While in Nigeria, Ambrose met with many Nigerian authors and academics, and learned that a professor’s monthly salary was less than the price of a paperback novel. Many of those he met with consequently were more interested in discussing the country’s economic state than its literary scene. They were nearly unanimous in identifying the structural adjustment programs imposed on Nigeria by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank as the root cause of the country’s (and Africa’s) poverty.
"Upon his return to Chicago, Ambrose began to devote more attention to structural adjustment and the international financial institutions. He joined the Chicago branch of the 50 Years Is Enough Campaign when it was formed in 1994, to help coordinate actions against the IMF and World Bank. He eventually became the branch’s de facto coordinator and representative to the national campaign’s Steering Committee. Ambrose moved to Washington, DC at the end of 1995 to take a position with Nicaragua Network, a leading member of the 50 Years Is Enough Network, and later a full-time position with 50 Years itself. His work in Washington was largely devoted to policy analysis, organizing, and media work, in which capacity he was quoted by BBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others, and was profiled in the Financial Times in 2001. He was one of the lead organizers of the April 2000 protests against the IMF and World Bank which brought upwards of 20,000 to Washington, DC.
"From 2002, Ambrose also served as a part-time staffer with New Voices on Globalization, a consortium formed by four Washington-based groups (50 Years Is Enough Network, Essential Action, Institute for Policy Studies, and Jobs with Justice) to amplify the voice of the global justice movement in mainstream media. Ambrose moved to Nairobi, Kenya in June 2005, where he helped found Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center, a grassroots organization working with local groups on food security and related economic issues. He is coordinator of the Center’s Solidarity Africa Network project, which performs policy analysis and brings together groups around Africa on joint advocacy projects. Soren is now the Africa Campaigner for the Bank Information Center."[1]
Affiliations
- Director, Global Justice Ecology Project
