Stanford Graduate School Of Business Names Darius Teter As New Executive Director Of Stanford Seed

Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, known as Stanford Seed, today named Darius Teter as the new executive director of the institute. Stanford Seed is led by the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and receives university-wide support. It is designed to promote greater economic prosperity through leadership and innovation training in Africa and India. In this role, Teter will lead Seed’s growth and expansion, building upon the success it has achieved since its inception in 2011.

Teter previously served as vice president of global programs at Oxfam America, where he oversaw the humanitarian emergency response team and regional development programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as research, learning and evaluation. His experience spans the field of international development, from responding to humanitarian emergencies to financing public infrastructure mega-projects, including leadership positions with the Asian Development Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. government foreign aid agency.

After Seed’s founding in 2011, the first Seed Transformation Program launched in Accra, Ghana, in 2013 and expanded to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2016. Since then, the Seed Transformation Program has trained and mentored 565 entrepreneurs and senior staff members, leading to increased revenue and new job creation throughout the region. In addition, participating companies have raised almost $11 million in funding and 79 percent have grown their customer base.

In May 2017, Seed announced its expansion into India through its new location in Chennai, which will serve entrepreneurs from across the country. The first annual program will run from August 2017 to August 2018 and will be held at the state-of-the-art Infosys corporate campus.

Teter will work closely with Srensen, who served as executive director of Seed from 2015 to 2017, and Raj Chellaraj, associate dean for finance and administration at the GSB, who served as chief operating officer of Seed during the same time period.

Teter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Yale University and a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard Kennedy School. He has also completed advanced studies in resource economics at the University of British Columbia.