The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program has named Georgetown's Catherine Wright (C‘11) one of 16 students selected as a 2009 U.S. Goldman Sachs Global Leader.

The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program identifies and rewards the academic excellence and leadership potential of 150 of the most accomplished second-year students across the world from all disciplines. Wright will receive a $3,000 award and advanced leadership training as part of the program.

“I am pleased to congratulate Catherine on this recognition of her scholarship and on this unique opportunity to develop her leadership skills,” said Chester Gillis, dean of Georgetown College. “Catherine’s dedication to academic excellence and to providing service to others embodies Georgetown University’s mission to train leaders who are well informed and engaged in their communities. We look forward to her continued contributions to the campus community as well as her certain success in her future endeavors.”

After graduating from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., Wright delayed coming to Georgetown for one year to work for City Year Seattle as an AmeriCorps member where she worked with other volunteers to tutor middle-school students and led community volunteer projects.

“Oppression today is rationalized as ‘part of life;’ though not hidden, it is so entrenched in our system of living that we no longer see it as it manifests itself in failing schools, malnourished children and men and women without shelter or sufficient medical care,” Wright wrote in her application. “The imminent need to solve these issues calls me to leadership. The perception of service must shift from that of kindness and charity to that of necessity and pragmatism.”

At Georgetown, the sociology major from Snoqualmie, Wash., leads the Georgetown University ServeNext Action Network, which she helped found during her freshman year to increase support for national service programs.

She also tutors prison inmates as a volunteer with Georgetown’s prison outreach program, advocates for workers’ rights through the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and will lead First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI), a community service preorientation program for new students in the fall.

Wright’s plans for the future include working in law and public policy to change the root causes of discrimination and economic inequality. In order to communicate with as many people as possible, she is studying Chinese and Spanish and plans study abroad in Chile this summer and China next spring.

“Catherine has strong academic skills and is capable of performing at the highest levels of scholarship. But what makes her special is her advocacy and concern for the public good,” says sociology professor Sam Marullo, who met Wright at the start of her sophomore year this past August. “She is committed to public policy and civic engagement to make the world a better place.”

The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program provides young leaders with a unique international network through which they can share ideas, learn from established leaders, work collaboratively and address global challenges. By exposing participants to the complex issues and opportunities arising from an increasingly interdependent global economy, the program aims to expand perspectives and enhance skills critical for leadership in a changing world.

In the United States, the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program selected 16 leaders from 27 participating U.S. universities. Global Leaders were invited to attend an awards ceremony on April 23-26 in New York, where they will receive their $3,000 awards.

In conjunction with the award ceremony, a selection panel will select eight of the leaders to receive an all-expense-paid trip to represent the group at the Global Leadership Institute in New York in July.

The Global Leadership Institute provides leadership training and seminars on timely international issues and allows the students to consult with renowned leaders in the public, civic and private sectors to build ties based on shared experiences and common goals.