Sooni Gillett

Sooni Gillett supports Emergence in organizational strategy and program development. She is a social and environmental impact leader with 10+ years of experience designing and implementing programs and organizations in the Bay Area, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. She is passionate about giving students, communities, and organizations the tools and resources that they need to develop, implement, and scale solutions to environmental, social, and economic challenges. She is the Founder of ConnectED, an organization that has pioneered a unique Fellowship Model to identify and support local indigenous leaders in Central America. The model assists community educators in rural locales, through mentorship, leadership training, and small grants, to design, launch, and scale solutions in response to critical education challenges. Before founding ConnectED, she worked as a Manager at the Resource Conservation District and as a Research Analyst at the Postharvest Technology Research Center where she supported farming communities throughout Santa Cruz County, Asia, and Africa. She holds a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership, a bachelors in international relations, and a masters in international development and ecology.