Mark Carrato
 

A global perspective on gender, economics, and sustainability

Mark Carrato has always been interested in international studies. Born in Japan to an international businessman father, Carrato’s global upbringing was the beginning of his future career in foreign service.

After earning his undergraduate degree in international business from a small liberal arts school in Washington, he made the journey south to Oregon for graduate school.

“I chose UO because it had a very interesting interdisciplinary directed program for international studies,” Carrato says, “Oregon brought a level of scrutiny and questioning of what I thought I believed, about who I was and the way I look. It made me think about my perspective.”

While at the university, he worked as a graduate employee, leading weekly discussions and lectures for undergraduate students. He recalls his six months of field work in Guatemala, where he studied the nexus between women’s empowerment, microfinance, and Indigenous communities, as one of his most impactful experiences in graduate school.

With such an interdisciplinary program, Carrato was able to connect with professors and advisors from a variety of fields. He didn’t know what career he wanted post-graduation, so Carrato appreciated Oregon’s many perspectives that allowed him to explore international relations in different industries.

His grad school experience led him to apply for the Presidential Management Fellows Program, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program that mentors potential government leaders. In 2013, he was welcomed to the USAID team as one of six Presidential Management Fellows.

 

Through USAID foreign service work, Carrato rotates to a new job position about every four years. As a result, he has enjoyed his experience in various fields, such as environment, energy, and economic growth, in countries like Pakistan, Colombia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

Carrato stepped into the role of coordinator for Power Africa toward the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.

As coordinator of Power Africa, he helps lead the world’s largest partnership in development in an effort to expand Sub-Saharan Africa’s access to electricity through renewable energy.

“When COVID hit, power production stopped. Governments couldn’t afford things; the pandemic was a more pressing concern,” he said, “COVID reinforced our goals in powering health facilities and clinics.”

During his time as a graduate student at Oregon, Carrato’s research focused on the relationship between gender and economics, a topic that he continues to explore with Power Africa. Striving for gender equity in energy access is an important pillar in Power Africa’s success.

“We have a great program in Rwanda called WIRE – Women in Rwandan Energy – that has been able to get more women into management roles from younger ages in the energy sector,” Carrato says, “It’s been a massively male-dominated industry, so the goal is to spread the gambit from who uses the energy, how we use it, who makes the decisions, and who is part of the sector.”

 

Power Africa has built bridges from public and private energy sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa to global development partners and governments to help increase energy access. The organization provides training and resources to local power generating companies to secure contracts and expand energy access.

Per USAID regulations, Carrato’s time as Power Africa’s coordinator is beginning to wrap up. With new experience in energy access and sustainability, he looks ahead to his future endeavors.

“As long as I stay in foreign service, I’ll probably be going back overseas with my family,” Carrato says, “What job that will be, I don’t know. I feel the responsibility to make a difference. I’m fascinated by other people and cultures, and foreign service has fostered that lifelong exploration.”

-By Peyton Hall, UO Alumni Association Student Associate