Ben Burghart grew up outside of Philadelphia, PA. He spent his junior year of college abroad in Ghana, which first sparked his interest in NGOs and global civil society. He earned a BA in Religious Studies from Franklin & Marshall College before coming to UC Santa Barbara in 2008. He was a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Black Studies for the duration of the graduate program. Since finishing his MA project on international fiscal sponsorship philanthropy, Ben has been teaching high school world history in Charlottesville, VA and will soon begin a Master of Architecture program at the University of Virginia.