Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Dr. Carolyn Who. Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo is President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. She came to CRS in January 2012 after a distinguished academic career. Before coming to CRS, Dr. Woo served from 1997 to 2011 as dean of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.… See full bio.

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Story: Clean water means better health, especially for young children. In emergency situations, access to clean water and a functioning sanitation infrastructure enables people to stay healthy while they cope during these stressful periods. Better water management in normal times allows communities to sustain or even improve the quantity and quality of their water sources, which means higher crop yields and healthier animals. CRS partners with groups ranging from local governments and community water associations to international organizations such as Caritas on projects designed to improve water supplies for domestic, productive, and environmental purposes in the poorest of the world’s communities. Guided by the belief that everyone has the right to live a healthy, productive life with dignity, we help the poor gain access to adequate water for drinking, hygiene and sanitation, agriculture, industry, and other uses. In 2008, some 80 CRS projects East Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Southeast Asia focused at least in part on water and sanitation.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The Catholic Relief Services have effective, comprehensive, and integrative programs. For example one expert noted that their approach in central America is very effective, and another highlighted that CRS has been able to integrate WASH initiatives into their work with other development sectors. They work closely with local partners and has paved the way for collaborative work with other sectors both internally and externally. They also have a good, long track record of helping communities in need.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Experts mention that CRS has a good reputation and dedicated and specialized staff who are willing to seek ways to improve. They have done extensive work in multiple countries and have excellent local connections to solve WASH problems in a sustainable manner.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Experts have different opinions about how CRS could improve. One expert mentioned that CRS could do a better job highlighting and giving focus to WASH efforts. Another mention that CRS can reduce transaction cost and increase localization. Another expert mentioned that they can scale nationally and create a systematization for experiences. They can also look back and assess their impact from the time of the initial project until now. And strengthen their program/policy linkages and their links with networks/consortia.
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Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo is President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. She came to CRS in January 2012 after a distinguished academic career. Before coming to CRS, Dr. Woo served from 1997 to 2011 as dean of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. During Dr. Woo's tenure, the Mendoza College was frequently recognized as the nation’s leading business school in ethics education and research, and received top ranking in 2010 and 2011 for its undergraduate business program from Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. Prior to the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Woo served as Associate Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Purdue University. Dr. Woo was born and raised in Hong Kong, and immigrated to the United States to attend Purdue University, where she received her B.S., M.S.I.A. and Ph.D. degrees, and became a member of its faculty. Her teaching, research and administrative leadership have been recognized through Best Paper Awards by the Academy of Management, selection as one of Forty Young Leaders of American Academe by Change Magazine (the journal of the American Association for Higher Education), distinguished alumna and honorary alumna by Purdue University and University of Notre Dame, as well as by the conferral of honorary doctorates from Providence College, University of St. Francis and Lewis University. She was the first female dean to chair the accreditation body for business schools (AACSB: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) and directed its initiative for Peace through Commerce. From 2004 to 2010, Dr. Woo served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services. She is currently serves on the Board of Directors for the AON Corporation; NiSource (former NIPSCO); Catholic Charities USA; Aileron Foundation; the Board of Regents, University of Portland; the Board of Governors, University of Notre Dame Australia; and the Archdiocese of Baltimore Independent Child Abuse Review Board. She also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board, Fuel Up to Play 60 (sponsored by National Football League and the National Dairy Council); the Blue Ribbon Committee on accreditation AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) International; the Diversity Advisory Committee of KPMG; Executive Council on Development of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Migration & Refugee Services, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and the International Policy Committee, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dr. Woo is married to Dr. David E. Bartkus and they have two sons, Ryan and Justin.

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