Rajiv Vinnakota '93, co-founder and managing director of the national nonprofit SEED Foundation, an organization devoted to bringing outstanding educational opportunities to underserved inner-city communities, will speak at the Woodrow Wilson School on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 4:30 p.m., Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall. Vinnakota is visiting the School as part of its "Leadership and Governance" program, which brings prominent policy makers to Princeton University for a multi-day visit so that students can meet and learn from exemplary public leaders.

The SEED Foundation partners with urban communities to provide innovative educational opportunities that prepare underserved students for success in college and beyond. SEED's innovative model integrates a rigorous academic program with a nurturing boarding program, which teaches life skills and provides a safe and secure environment. The foundation's first project, the SEED School of Washington, DC, is the nation's only public-access college-prep boarding school for inner-city children.

Vinnakota is also an Echoing Green fellow, an Ashoka fellow and a former Princeton University trustee. For his work at The SEED Foundation, Vinnakota has been named a “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian magazine and has received the Manhattan Institute's Social Entrepreneurship Award and an Oprah Winfrey Use Your Life Award. Vinnakota was also named the 2009 winner of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson Award, the highest honor given to an undergraduate alumnus

The event will be online for later viewing on the Woodrow Wilson School’s Web media site – http://wws.princeton.edu/webmedia.