Carol Lancaster addresses the La Pietra Coalition working group in Florence, Italy in 2011.
Today, Vital Voices and our world have lost a great leader, teacher, advocate and friend. Our courageous Vice-Chair, Dr. Carol Lancaster, died peacefully at home this morning in Washington, D.C.
Carol has been with us as a board member, mentor and trainer since day one, serving as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the last three years. She traveled the world speaking to and inspiring women leaders in our network, particularly throughout Latin America. Until April of this year, she served as dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
As her son Douglas said so beautifully in his message this morning, “She lived with a great determination and strength. She was committed to teaching and learning, to intellectual courage and to global engagement. She will be remembered as a pioneering woman in international affairs and a stalwart champion of human dignity. She was also a devoted mother and a loving wife.”
Carol was deeply loved by women around the world. Her legacy of a deep commitment, both to service and to challenging the status quo, lives on in each of them.