Dan Owen

Dan Owen is a Lead Social Development Specialist at the World Bank, based in Kinshasa, DRC where he is the operations lead for social development/social sustainability and inclusion programming in the Eastern and Southern Africa region and team leader for the Stabilization and Recovery in Eastern DRC Project (STAR-Est). He leads the World Bank community of practice on Security and Violence Prevention and is the program manager of the Global Program for Reintegration Support. Whilst based in Washington DC, he was an ambassador for parkrun USA and Event Director for the Washington DC parkrun at Fletcher’s Cove. Parkrun is likely the largest provider of volunteer opportunities on the planet and the biggest running event in the world and is crafted around a simple concept – free, for everyone, forever, with an aim to create a healthier and happier planet. Parkrun 5k events take place each Saturday in 20 countries all around the world in over 2,000 locations, bringing people together, championing inclusiveness and wellbeing. And it is this simple concept and its clear proof in design that inspires Dan in his work with the CRM to search for pathways to expand the public good, public health benefit and the positive social capital that comes from community initiatives around health and physical well-being. He lives in Kinshasa with his wife and dog and minus his four children attending university in the USA.