Rye Barcott is a social entrepreneur, investor, and the author of the memoir It Happened on the Way to War. He co-founded the non-profit organizations Carolina for Kibera and With Honor, and the investment firm Double Time Capital.

Rye Barcott
Cofounder and CEO of With Honor
Personal details
Born1979 (age 44–45)
NationalityUS
SpouseTracy Barcott
Parent
Residence(s)North Carolina, US
Alma mater
Occupation
WebsiteIt Happened on the Way to War
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Years of service2001–2006
Rank Captain

Biography edit

Early life and education edit

Barcott's mother, Donna Schwartz-Barcott, is a nurse and anthropologist who teaches at the University of Rhode Island.[1] His father, Timothy Schwartz-Barcott, attended Miami University on a Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarship and went on to serve in the Marine Corps' 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion during the Vietnam War. His father left the Marines as a captain after receiving a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. His parents met as graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).[2]

Barcott attended East Greenwich High School. He graduated in 2001 Phi Beta Kappa from UNC.[3] He attended UNC on a four-year Marine Corps NROTC scholarship.[4] Barcott graduated in 2009 with an MPA and MBA from Harvard University, where he was a Center for Public Leadership Social Entrepreneurship Fellow and George Leadership Fellow.[5] Harvard University President Drew Faust appointed him to a two-year term on Harvard Endowment's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility, and he served as a founding member of the movement to create an MBA Oath.[6] He was elected as a member of Harvard's Alumni Association Board of Directors in 2016.[7]

Career edit

Military service edit

Barcott served five years on active duty in the Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of captain and deployed to Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq.[8] In 2006, he provided written testimony to the Iraq Study Group and authored an article about the Iraqi Military Intelligence Academy in Proceedings, the professional journal of the US Navy.[9]ABC World News with Charles Gibson covered his work in Kibera and his military service in Iraq and named him a Person of the Week and a 2006 Person of the Year.[10] The ABC News story quoted him encouraging young Americans to expose themselves "to how the majority of the world lives ... and I think it'll make you a lot more appreciative of what you've got ... [and] make you a better American and a better global citizen."[11]

Social enterprises edit

While an undergraduate at UNC in 2001, Barcott founded Carolina for Kibera (CFK) in Kenya with Salim Mohamed and Tabitha Atieno Festo. CFK started as a small inter-ethnic soccer program and medical clinic run out of Festo's ten-by-ten foot shack. Today[when?] it is an affiliated entity of UNC.[12] Barcott is the chair of the board of CFK,[13] whose Advisory Council included former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and includes former CDC Director Dr. William Roper and the former CEO of the Kenya Medical Association Stellah Bosire.[13]

Barcott co-founded With Honor in 2017 with David Gergen and other veterans. With Honor is a veteran-led NGO focused on promoting and advancing principled veteran leadership in order to reduce polarization. Its advisory board includes post-9/11 veterans, Gold Star family members, and others.[14]

Investing edit

Barcott and Dan McCready co-founded Double Time Capital in 2013 as an impact investment firm focused on clean energy and sustainability. As of February 2017, "Double Time has financed 36 solar energy projects, which collectively produce roughly 10% of North Carolina's solar power and power around 30,000 homes in the state."[15] At that time, North Carolina was ranked second among US states based on cumulative solar installed capacity.[16] The firm also invested in companies offering sustainable products and services.[17]

Prior to forming Double Time Capital, Barcott worked as a special advisor to the CEO and chairman of Duke Energy, Jim Rogers. Barcott formed and led an investment team for the CEO that focused on renewable energy and disruptive growth opportunities.[18]

Public speaking edit

Barcott delivered the 2007 commencement address to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.[19] He was also the university's 2018 commencement speaker.[20] As an inaugural TED fellow, he gave a speech on "The Power of Participatory Development".[21] He is an annual speaker at the US Marine Corps' Battles Won Academy for Semper Fidelis high school student all-Americans.[22] He is represented by the American Program Bureau and frequently speaks at colleges and high schools.[23]

Boards edit

Barcott serves on the boards of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum,[24] National Democratic Institute,[25] Veterans Bridge Home,[26] the US Institute for Peace,[27] and the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation.[28] He previously served on the board of the international development organization World Learning and its accredited institution the School for International Training, and returned to its board in October 2020.[29]

President Barack Obama appointed Barcott to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board as a representative of the veteran community.[30]

Published work edit

Barcott is the author of the memoir It Happened on the Way to War[31] (Bloomsbury Publishing). The book's dedication to CFK cofounders Salim Mohamed and Tabitha Atieno Festo includes a phrase that captures the central theme of the book: "Talent is universal; opportunity is not."[32]

In 2001, Barcott co-edited with Dr. Carolyn Pumphrey Armed Conflict in Africa, a book that analyzed the sources of violence in Africa.[33] His post-9/11 letters with Salim Mohamed were published in Andrew Carroll's War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (Scribner, 2001). He contributed to Passion and Purpose, 27 Views of Charlotte, and 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post,[34] The New York Times,[35] and TIME.[36]

It Happened on the Way to War was one of four books selected for the TED 2011 Book Club, and was named best nonfiction title in 2011 by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. In 2011, Reader's Digest named the book one of four top nonfiction titles of the year.[37]

Honors edit

The US Department of Defense awarded Barcott with the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

ABC News named him a Person of the Year.[38]

The World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.[39]

Harvard Business School presented Barcott and his classmates Alex Ellis, Neil Wagle, and Kate Wattson with the Dean's Award for Service to the School and Society.[40]

Dartmouth College awarded him a Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2016.[41]

Voices for National Service awarded him with the 2022 National Service Advocate of the Year award for "exemplary determination, creativity, and results in building support for national service among our nation's leaders."[42]

Personal life edit

He is the husband of Dr. Tracy Barcott,[43] a child psychologist. They live in North Carolina and have three children.

References edit

  1. ^ "Professor Donna Schwartz-Barcott URI profile".
  2. ^ "Timothy Schwartz-Barcott | Department of Sociology". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Barcott, Carolina for Kibera Co-Founder, to Speak - UNC General Alumni Association". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Rye Barcott, social entrepreneur, to speak at UNC-Chapel Hill Commencement". UNC News. Feb 15, 2018. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "CPL ALUMNI COUNCIL". CPL Alumni Reunion 2018. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Who We Are - The MBA Oath".
  7. ^ "HAA Board of Directors" (PDF). alumni.harvard.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Rye Barcott: It Happened on the Way to War | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". www.pritzkermilitary.org. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  9. ^ Barcott, Rye (July 2007). ""No Torture"-It's a Start". usni.org. Proceedings Magazine. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  10. ^ "American in Iraq Fights Two Wars at Once". ABC News. 4 May 2007.
  11. ^ "ABC World News: Persons of the Year Profile - Rye Barcott". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  12. ^ Kutchma, Beth-Ann. "Carolina for Kibera". Carolina for Kibera. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Angel Oak Creative. "The Team". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  14. ^ "With Honor Advisors". WithHonor.org. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  15. ^ Quittner, Jeremy. "These Marines Beat the Odds to Build a Solar Energy Fund". Fortune.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  16. ^ "North Carolina Solar". SEIA.org. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Double Time Capital | Investing in Clean American Energy". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  18. ^ John Downey (18 December 2018). "'Iconic' former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers dies". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 25 May 2023. (subscription required)
  19. ^ "Commencement weekend: School of Public Health welcomes new alumni". sph.unc.edu. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Rye Barcott: "Take the Pain" | 2018 Spring Commencement Speech UNC-Chapel Hill". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  21. ^ "Rye Barcott - TED Fellow". ted.com.
  22. ^ "Marine Corps hosts inaugural Battles Won Academy > Marine Corps Recruiting Command > News Article Display". www.mcrc.marines.mil. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Rye Barcott". APB Speakers. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  24. ^ https://nationalvmm.org/about/boards-of-directors/veteran [dead link]
  25. ^ "Board of Directors". www.ndi.org. Jun 10, 2016. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  26. ^ "Board of Advisors". Veterans Bridge Home. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "International Advisory Council". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  28. ^ "Leadership Team". Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  29. ^ "World Learning Welcomes Five New Board Members". World Learning. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  30. ^ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. Mar 2, 2012. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  31. ^ https://ithappenedonthewaytowar.com
  32. ^ "At the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University: 'Talent is Universal: Opportunity is Not' | U-M Erb". 5 April 2012. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  33. ^ T. P. Schwartz (2006-05-26). "Armed Conflict in Africa: Pumphrey, Carolyn, Schwartz-Barcott, Rye: 9780810847422: Amazon.com: Books". Smile.amazon.com. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  34. ^ Barcott, Rye (2011-05-29). "All Americans have a duty to honor Memorial Day". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  35. ^ Barcott, Rye (May 18, 2011). "When It Comes to Helping Others: Just Do It". New York Times. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  36. ^ "How to Talk About Enemies on Memorial Day". Time. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  37. ^ "Rye Barcott". Compass Talent. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  38. ^ "ABC News Person of the Year Award". YouTube.
  39. ^ "Community". The Forum of Young Global Leaders. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  40. ^ "Graduating Students Honored for Service to the School and Society - News". www.hbs.edu. 26 May 2009. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  41. ^ "Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee to Speak at Commencement". Dartmouth News. Apr 13, 2016. Retrieved Apr 25, 2021.
  42. ^ "Friends of National Service Awards – Past Honorees". www.voicesforservice.org. Retrieved Oct 7, 2022.
  43. ^ "Tracy Barcott, Ph. D."

External links edit