Courtney Lawrence

DSIL Global • Thailand

Based in Southeast Asia, Courtney Lawrence is the founding CEO of Designing for Social Innovation and Leadership (DSIL) Course — a global endeavor that unites international multi-stage leaders with a constellation of tools, networks and field immersions with local innovation communities to accelerate major impact in their own context. Today, she now co-runs DSIL Global, a social innovation company that includes consulting with an international development focus. Courtney is Faculty at Thammasat University, School of Global Studies and Social Entrepreneurship, where she teaches leadership and Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation, and for the THNK School of Creative Leadership in Amsterdam for in-company programs. Her academic research focuses on the intersection of sustainable economic development, social enterprise and design thinking. From 2006-2014 she served on the Executive Committee of the Swiss-based NGO, World Alliance of YMCAs. Previous to co-founding a US social enterprise dedicated to building a hub for green sustainability entrepreneurs in 2011, she worked with Ashoka’s Full Economic Citizenship initiative in the Washington, D.C. area. She has facilitated multiple trainings across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North and South America. She holds a Master’s in Sustainable Economic Development and Responsible Management from UPEACE, the UN Mandated Graduate School of Peace and Conflict Studies and has lived, worked and traveled across more than 60 countries.