Executive Director
Macol Stewart Cerda is a leader in fostering collaborative research with broad societal impact. As founder of her own strategy practice, Silmaril Consulting, Cerda has extensive experience in convening innovators, building partnerships and mobilizing resources to develop multidisciplinary responses to pressing cultural concerns. She holds a BA from Princeton and two master’s degrees from Yale, including an MA in international relations. Prior to joining the Institute, Cerda worked as a consultant to the Pilsen-based arts incubator Mana Contemporary Chicago. She also served as an Investing in Women in Development Fellow at USAID from 2001 to 2003 and spent four years as Climate Program Director for Africa at NOAA, where she raised more than $10 million for research on economic development across Africa.
In 2015, Cerda was appointed the Executive Director of the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge. In this role, she is responsible for planning and executing IFK’s initiatives, developing relationships with campus partners, assisting with IFK’s advancement program, managing the administration and communications teams, and supporting Faculty Director Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer in her vision for the Institute.
