By Katie Wollstein

It’s winter break and many college students are plotting their next move after graduation.  More school?  Look for a job?  Something to consider:   in April 2012, the AP analyzed government data and found that about 1.5 million, or 53.6%, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed in 2011.  According to a 2011 US Bureau of Labor statistics study, 13.5% of recent grads with a bachelor’s degree and 8.6% with an advanced degree were unemployed.  (Note: “recent grads” refers to people ages 20 to 29 who completed degrees in the calendar year of the survey).  The report was the first from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to publish labor force data specifically for recent college graduates and appeared in the February 2013 Monthly Labor Review.  While the BLS report indicated that there is a general trend of lower unemployment rates with increasingly advanced college degrees, there is also evidence that recent college graduate unemployment rates vary by field (check out the stats in the Summer 2013 BLS report).  Additionally, chasing an advanced degree is expensive and time-consuming.  So, how do you decide if you should go for that advanced degree in global development?

The conundrum:  if you don’t have any work experience, you won’t be qualified to advance professionally.  On the other hand, if you have an advanced degree but not any work experience, you may hear that you’re overqualified for the entry-level job that could earn you precious experience.  Kate Warren, director of global recruiting services at Devex, summed this up in her blog. “The result is those who go straight from undergrad to graduate school often find themselves stuck in a rough spot of being overqualified for entry-level positions but under qualified for mid-level positions.”  To combat this, try a few years of work experience before graduate school. Continue Reading

By Katherine Schroeder

People are beginning to understand that women and girls hold the key to eradicating poverty. Countries that support women frequently show a better rate of economic and social development, as well as other measures of societal progress, than countries that lag behind when it comes to women and girls’ rights. Consequentially, there has been an increase in “investing” in women and girls all over the world. Because of the pivotal role that women play in development as well as the depth of resources now available, it is important to have accurate recommendations and research when it comes to funding.

“Watering the Leaves and Starving the Roots” was written by Angelika Arutyunova and Cindy Clark and sponsored by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, and paints a picture of overall inequality for women across the world. Based on a survey of over 1,100 women’s organization, the survey results and subsequent article help decode a changing social landscape to promote more efficient use of resources. Continue Reading

By Sandy Lam

So you want a career in global development. What does that mean to you? It’s an extremely competitive field, especially in Washington State, so whether you are a soon-to-be-graduate, recent graduate, or someone trying to make a change in career fields, here are five golden tips to make sure you end up in the right place for you and are getting the most out of your efforts.

1.  Define your goals and interest (BE SPECIFIC) and write down what skills you can bring to the table.

When I say be specific, I mean, REALLY specific. Saying you are “interested” in said organization with nothing to follow up with, makes you look unknowledgeable and can possibly be insulting to your potential employer. Think of a specific story or experience you can share that ties your passion to their mission. Don’t go for a job you don’t care about, especially in nonprofit. It will be obvious and you will be fighting a sea of other people who will truly standout simply because of their passion alone. They’re the ones willing to put in the long extra hours without a second thought.

Continue Reading

By Heather Pitorak Menezes

“I left Burundi, but Burundi never left me,” explained Deogratias “Deo” Niyizonkiza, the founder of Village Health Works. Deo, the opening keynote speaker for the 5^th Annual Global Washington Conference: Catalyzing Collective Impact, described his childhood in and his home country of Burundi. Situated south of Rwanda, west of Tanzania, and east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi is one of the poorest countries on earth. Ninety percent of the population lives in rural areas. Access to potable water is rare; much of the population relies on stagnant rain water for drinking. It is has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, yet “misery is the norm” as Burundi faced “long, dark years of civil war.” Civil war and genocide, Deo emphasized, are the result of what “chronic misery does to a human being.” He described two ways to approach the dire situation: 1) you run away or 2) think about the situation and ask yourself, ‘what can I do about it?’ Deo opted for the latter. He left Burundi, and while facing initial struggles in the United States, including homelessness, he eventually received a college education. According to Deo, “I left Burundi, but Burundi never left me.” And that’s how Village Health Works was created. Village Health Works focuses on key, interconnected elements: health, education, agriculture, and community engagement. For Deo, the idea of bringing healthcare to the community was uplifting. While, it took 12 months to be granted permission to formerly implement Village Health Works in Burundi, they worked regardless, and in arduous conditions. “We didn’t wait for electricity, water . . . [i]f we didn’t do now, then when?”  Through friendships they made, they raised money for a water tank in one community. This was the first time that this community had access to clean water. Continue Reading

By Mark Olmstead

Founder and President of RESULTS, Sam Daley-Harris sat down with Carol Welch from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the Global Washington Conference on November 13, 2013.

Daley-Harris had an interesting transformation from his educational background to where he is now at RESULTS.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Music and never really considered a career focused on global poverty or climate change until he was invited to attend The Hunger Project in the late 70’s.  He left that experience hopeless, thinking that hunger was inevitable and there was not much to be changed in the world.  The only thing that would be achievable is self-control, which he was able to transform into a vision and goal to achieve results. Continue Reading

By Mark Olmstead

An audience of close to 450 gathered at the 2013 GlobalWA conference to hear the always-engaging Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps, talk with Katherine Cheng, Head of Global Corporate Citizenship and Community Relations for Bellevue-based Expedia.

The conversation began with talk of the recent destruction in the Philippines.

“I know everyone here has been following the news.  What’s really important now, and for people to understand is that there is going to be fog and chaos.  The infrastructure is destroyed and some areas have not been reached yet,” said Keny-Guyer.  “The hope is to restore some of the transportation infrastructure which is critical.  We are down on the ground with other organizations and this is where it really is all about collective impact” said Keny-Guyer, referencing the theme of this year’s conference, Catalyzing Collective Impact. Continue Reading

By Anna Jensen-Clem

In the conference’s closing keynote titled “The Battle for the Soul of the Nonprofit Sector,” Charity Navigator CEO Ken Berger spoke on a wide variety of issues influencing monitoring and evaluation of nonprofits in the United States. Berger was forthright and honest about the potential divisiveness of his speech, and presented a number of interesting points for debate. His address was essentially divided into two sections; first, he addressed the existing problems with monitoring, evaluation, and reporting in the nonprofit sector and enumerated many of the problems that nonprofit staff face when applying for and soliciting funding. Second, Berger offered solutions to some of these issues, and emphasized that nonprofits must provide meaningful information in their reports. Meaningful information is key for internal and external reports, and allows potential donors and foundation grantmakers to assess the value and impact of an organization they might wish to fund. Continue Reading

By Mark Olmstead

Global Washington sent out a press release today announcing the work that organizations in Washington State are doing in the Philippines after the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, the strongest ever to make landfall on the planet.

Organizations such as Oxfam America, Mercy Corps, UNICEF, World Vision, Save the Children, Peace Winds America, International Rescue Committee, and OFFERS-Panay are looking for much-needed donations to provide aid to those affected by the typhoon.  According to the UN, around 11.3 million people have been affected by Haiyan, with over 670,000 people displaced.  USAID states that the official death toll is at 1,774 as of November 11, 2013, with some projections estimating up to 10,000. Continue Reading

By Mark Olmstead

ONE posed these questions on their website, and then asked for feedback. Opinions were varied with most people believing that, because volunteerism is here to stay, there needs to be an efficient model to help get the most out of volunteers’ short time abroad.

“There are well-intentioned organizations that offer trips to Africa that include mountain-climbing, wildlife safaris, even trips to see volcanoes, paired with a few days spent passing out rice packets to those in need,” said Joe Mason from ONE. It seems that volunteers are often more like tourists, seeing exotic places rather than working hard to end poverty. To make volunteer trips more effective and efficient, organizations should cut down on leisure time and place volunteers directly in communities that need help. Continue Reading

By Murline Gelin

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of people each year. This type of violence is perpetrated by a current or former partner or spouse. It includes violence that is physical, psychological, or sexual in nature.  Women are more likely to experience IPV and to be negatively impacted by it than men. About one-third of women will experience IPV in their lifetime.

There are many costs associated with intimate partner violence. It is responsible for loss of productivity, loss of earning potential, and increased reliance on medical services. Marital violence puts children at a higher risk for emotional and behavioral problems. IPV accounts for billions of dollars in direct medical and mental health care costs each year. Continue Reading