Carole Elfreda Henderson was born August 29, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia as the first child and first daughter to Freddye and Jake Sr. Henderson.
She recieved her Master's degree from Howard University in French and African studies in 1968, and also taught West African literature at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1970 she attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to earn her Ph.D. in anthropology.
She joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1979, where she would work for the next twenty years assisting the country in becoming independent from South Africa. In 1998 she became Vice President of International Affairs for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, doing research on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Tyson later founded Henderson’s Global Voices, which brings international speakers to American audiences.
Carole died September 15, 2025. She is survived by her children, John and Iman Tyson.
The History Makers Digital Repository for the Black Experience: Carole Henderson Tyson Video Interview
This life oral history interview with Carole Henderson Tyson was conducted by Larry Crowe on November 14, 2003, in Washington, District of Columbia, and was recorded on 7 Betacame SP videocasettes. International affairs expert and nonprofit chief executive Carole Henderson Tyson (1942 - 2025) founded Henderson's Global Voices, a speakers bureau of Middle Eastern and African experts.
