On May 29, President Obama honored Washington’s own Dr. Bill Foege with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his leadership of the campaign that successfully eliminated smallpox, the first and only human disease ever to be completely eradicated.
Born in 1936, the 6’7″ Dr. Foege (pronounced Fay-ghee) graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, attended the University of Washington Medical School, and interned for Public Health Seattle-King County. When he became a global health expert for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the 1960s, smallpox was killing 2 million people every year and infecting 50 million more. After earning an MPH from Harvard in 1965, he worked with missionary groups in Nigeria to transform their approach from hospital-based medicine to community-based medicine. Vaccine shortages and mass vaccination’s poor record led Foege and other CDC scientists in Africa to pioneer, largely on their own initiative, the “survey and containment” method of stockpiling vaccine reserves and mass vaccinating only people from areas with recorded smallpox cases. The implementation demanded ingenuity from local people and scientists alike. In one afflicted Nigerian village, Foege vaccinated 2,000 people in a single day. When he asked the chief how he had gotten so many people to come, the chief explained, “I told everyone to come and see the tallest man in the world.” As Foege recounts in his 2011 memoir House on Fire, he would explain to people that “if a house is on fire, no one wastes time putting water on nearby houses just in case the fire spreads. They rush to pour water where it will do the most good: on the burning house.” When it saw the effectiveness of the “survey and containment” strategy, the CDC adopted it as its smallpox strategy with remarkable speed for a bureaucracy. “It shows the value of having young people involved in the project,” says Foege. “Julius Richmond, the former Surgeon General, once said that the reason smallpox eradication worked is that the people involved were so young they didn’t know it couldn’t work.” In 1967, Foege joined the World Health Organization’s newly-launched campaign to eradicate smallpox through mass vaccinations. Under Foege’s leadership, the WHO smallpox program quickly adopted the “survey and containment” strategy. By the mid-1970s, the disease had been effectively eradicated. On May 8, 1980, the WHO formally certified smallpox as the first major epidemic human disease to ever be eradicated.
Dr. Foege served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta from 1977-1983. He also co-founded the Task Force for Global Health and took up teaching at Emory University. As Executive Director of the Carter Center from 1986-1992, he led the international campaign to eliminate Guinea Worm and other diseases by pioneering new models of partnership between global health groups and pharmaceutical companies. He also served on the board of Pacific Lutheran University and played a crucial role in establishing the Global Health Program of Seattle’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he still serves as a Senior Fellow.
Foege is a passionate teacher who considers the present day to be the most exciting and promising time in the history of global health. A pious man whose uncle’s missionary work inspired him to enter the global health sector, he tells his students, “Love science but don’t worship it. There’s something better than science, and that is serving humanity.” He says global health practicitioners should understand and respect the cultures of those they seek to help and to look for inspiration everywhere. “I tell students they should be generalists and specialists simultaneously. Generalists try to figure out how the world works…and then follow some passion [as a specialist], but then you know how that passion fits into the general picture. And there are so many things to be done that you really can follow your passion and improve the world.”
Nonprofit Mercy Corps found corporate involvement was necessary for it to start a program serving workers on tea plantations in India.
“We could never have gained access to the tea estates without the influence of our partner Tazo,” said Rosy Choudhury, project director for a program called Community Health and Advancement Initiative (CHAI).
For 10 years, Tazo Tea — now owned by Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. — has partnered with Mercy Corps on the CHAI program to provide education, training and other services to families who live and work on the tea estates in Assam and Darjeeling.
We have been busy with events lately! We are always excited to highlight innovative global development work or keep you informed about important trends in the field. Earlier this month, we heard the inspiring story of Ayuba Gufwan and his organization, Wheelchairs for Nigeria. This event was co-hosted by and located at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center. We also recently hosted an event called “What Employers Really Want” for professionals looking to work in the global development sector. Next Tuesday, we are thrilled to welcome back Sam Worthington, CEO of Interaction, for a lunch talk on the changing ecosystem of global development. If you haven’t registered yet, there is still space!
In other exciting news, we are happy to welcome Amanda Bidwell to the staff of Global Washington! Amanda started last week as our new Membership and Development Associate. Amanda came to us last fall as a volunteer, and we were impressed with her work ethic, enthusiasm, and intelligence. We are excited to expand our work with Amanda’s support.
Finally, don’t leave for your summer vacation without putting a few important dates on your calendar! September 22nd, will be our second annual Global Action Day—a day to celebrate the accomplishments of Washington’s global development sector and find ways to get involved in this important work. Also, save the date of December 6th for Global Washington’s 4th Annual Conference. More details about these exciting events will be announced soon!
Global Washington hires Amanda Bidwell as Membership and Development Associate
Greetings! I am so pleased to join the Global Washington team in order to strengthen the global development sector in Washington State and to deepen our connection to all of Global Washington’s members. In the next couple of months I will be focused on fundraising opportunities that highlight the work of Global Washington and our amazing 160+ member organizations. I will be working with Global Washington staff and supporters to identify new opportunities for growth and continual development for our membership programs.
Please contact me at Amanda@globalwa.org if you have any questions. Otherwise I look forward to meeting you soon!
Best,
Amanda Bidwell
Amanda’s Bio
Amanda started her position as the Membership & Development Associate for Global Washington in March of 2012. Prior to joining Global Washington, Amanda worked for the USDA- Agricultural Research Service in St. Paul, MN conducting field research examining the effects of Biochar on soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling. She has extensive experience in research, sustainability and data management.
She has worked with various environmental organizations throughout the Midwest including the USDA- Agricultural Research Service, The University of Minnesota’s Department of Soil, Water & Climate, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. As a Midwestern transplant in Seattle, Amanda enjoys taking advantage of all the Pacific Northwest has to offer especially all things outdoors.
Amanda graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 with a Bachelor of Sciences in Environmental Science, Policy & Management, with minors in Sustainability Studies and Forest Resources.
The Village Pig Project: A Great Vision, Not a Grand Vision
By Bryan Gamble
“I had traveled to Cambodia and seen a lot of need. The first question was what basics do they need [and] what will work in the market. The answer was food, protein. Then it was a process of trial and error, lots of error, to evolve into something that works.”
David Michener
David Michener’s comment was made in response to a question about how he came up with The Village Pig Project’s particular approach to sustainability. Joe King, a current board member of the project, was kind enough to speak to us to further clarify their project’s ambitions.
The Village Pig Project is an initiative working in Cambodia to bring rural families subsistence by helping them set up self-sustaining pig farms. The program’s typical family, after being selected by Cambodian staff and village leaders, spends two and a half years in the program turning one three-month-old piglet into several litters that can be bred and sold. During their time with the Village Pig, families are provided with a $10 a month to feed themselves, feed for the pigs, and veterinarian assistance to assure the animal’s health and fertility.
When asked to describe the Village Pig’s program, King replied that it was “great, but not grand.” The program has no current plan to reach out to 10,000 families, nor is King interested in catapulting his organization to fame. The project makes promises to no more than 35 families at a time, and works alongside them to solve their individual challenges. In this way, the Village Pig helps to create change that lives on after families leave the program.
King’s involvement with The Village Pig has been a learning experience. The non-profit has had to respond to a number of challenges, including learning animal husbandry on the fly (particularly keeping pigs healthy from half a world away), keeping up-to-date with village political structures to ensure the continuation of the project, and familiar financial concerns. The process has been one of trial and error indeed. That said, there is much that gives King inspiration to continue his work.
On a trip to Cambodia, King visited a graduate of the Village Pig’s program and found that he had become something of an entrepreneur. This graduate had a pond behind his home that was created by ordinance from “The American War” (The Cambodian term for our “Vietnam War”). With the proceeds from breeding and selling pigs, he was able to start raising tilapia in the pond and is currently using this money and food to support his extended family. Another graduating, the family used their earned income to send their daughter to a beauty school in the city. She has since moved back to the village and opened her own beauty salon complete with a car battery that powers her hair dryer.
The Village Pig is an exercise in working alongside people. The program maintains relationships with the families to bridge gaps and evaluate the strength of their tactics to produce self-sustaining impact. Visiting board members pay for their own accommodations and airfare, and no staff members in the United States receive paychecks to ensure that every donated penny goes towards efforts in Cambodia. Ultimately, it is cooperative ventures like this that really have the power to change lives, one family—one pig—at a time.
Global Impact Brings Innovative Partner Solutions to Washington
By Alisa Minkina
A local farmer proudly stands in front of his new harvest of wheat in the desert sands of Timbuktu, Mali. Africare-Mali’s Food Security Imitative in Timbuktu is enhancing food security for communities in the region.
According to Giving USA, international giving reached $15.77 billion in 2010, an 11.4 percent increase from 2009, despite an economic downturn. These increases can be partly attributed to one of Global Washington’s members: Global Impact, an organization that raises funds to meet critical humanitarian needs around the world. Since 1956, Global Impact has raised more than 1.4 billion dollars for the world’s most vulnerable people.
Through its innovative partner solutions programs, disaster relief fund, workplace giving programs, and Federal campaign management, Global Impact offers donors a variety of ways to give effectively and efficiently. Today, Global Impact partnerships work in every corner of the world delivering safe drinking water, food, shelter, education, health care, job training and disaster relief. Millions of people have benefited since Global Impact began in 1956, and the work continues.
Sixty-two leading U.S.-based international charities partner with Global Impact and serve on the front lines to meet needs around the world. These funded charities rely on Global Impact for proven practices and continued innovation. In 2011, the Clinton Global Initiative recognized the organization’s vital role by inviting Global Impact to join world leaders committed to providing sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
Clean water provides hope to Africas children and communities.
Romanian neonatal instructors training students in Targu Mures, Romania. Received 5/26/09 – International Relief Teams
This year, Global Impact joins the international development community in Washington State as they open a satellite office here in Seattle. Josie Noah, Director of Partnerships & Strategic Alliances, recently moved to Washington to establish the office.
Why Washington? “Washington is the hub of many like-minded international development organizations” states Ms. Noah. “As a fundraising organization, we saw a need to develop effective relationships between international non-profits and companies working internationally. Global Impact can provide deep expertise and strategic direction.” Ms. Noah works with international development non-profits to advance their work through partnerships with the private and philanthropic sectors and with companies and foundations to increase their strategic philanthropy.
Composed of a team of more than 60 people, Global Impact raised $110.4 million last year alone. Ann Canela, Director of Partner Marketing, attributes this success to good governance and unparalleled financial stewardship. Global Impact remains focused on the key question: “Is this the best use of a dollar spent?”
U.S. Army Maj. Jose Rivera, a doctor with the 94th Combat Support Hospital, left, examines a Haitian schoolgirl during a medical readiness training exercise in Coteaux, Haiti, April 30, 2010. The unit is working alongside Haitian medical care providers to offer free level-one medical care to Haitians in the community during Operation Unified Response. (US Army photo by Kaye Richey/Released)
This attitude has the organization’s award shelf full to the brim. Global Impact received Charity Negotiator’s Four-Star Excellence Rating for exceeding industry standards, outperforming most charities in philanthropy and the Wise Giving Charity Seal from Better Business Bureau, both for six consecutive years. Global Impact received an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Nonprofit Management in the Washington Post; the CFO, Stan Berman, was granted CFO of the Year in the Nonprofit Category in 2011; and the organization received GiveSpot’s “Top 100 Highly Rated Charities” for sound financial management and commitment to financial integrity in 2010.
Please welcome our newest Global Washington members. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with their work and think of opportunities for support and collaboration!
Pilgrim Africa: Pilgrim Africa was registered as a Ugandan NGO in 2001, and as a US 501c(3) in 2004. Pilgrim’s work reaches more than 500,000 households through a broad spectrum of community programs in north and eastern Uganda. www.pilgrimafrica.org
Upaya Social Ventures: Upaya Social Ventures is building businesses that will create jobs and improve the quality of life for families worldwide living on less than $1.25 a day. We provide early-stage entrepreneurs with the support needed to launch and scale businesses that can create dignified employment. For more information, please visit. www.upayasv.com
Kids4Peace International: Kids4Peace is an interfaith peace education program dedicated to encouraging children of different cultures and faith traditions to explore their differences and similarities, and to learn understanding, tolerance and respect, while fostering sustainable friendships across the lines of conflict. www.k4p.org
Research Associate, williamsworks: Richard Johnson
How would you describe your job? “As a Research Associate, I primarily work to support our team leaders in meeting our broader project goals around a specific development/advocacy issue. This usually means identifying, researching, synthesizing, and presenting the ideas, information, news, and data critical to helping us understand a specific issue and designing an effective strategy to take action on it. More.
Highlighted positions:
Executive Assistant, Clear Path International
The Executive Assistant plays a key role in creating and maintaining internal systems, which promote efficient business practices within the organization. The Executive Assistant must be able to understand the organization at a high level as well as manage basic day-to-day needs of the staff. More.
Administrative Assistant, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation The Prosthetics Outreach Foundation has an immediate opportunity for a part-time Administrative Assistant. The Administrative Assistant will be fundamentally responsible for ensuring the smooth administrative functioning of the Foundation headquarters. More.
Development and Expansion Intern, RESULTS
The Development and Expansion intern will assist Development and Operations staff with a variety of duties, including those listed below. Duties listed are subject to change based on interest and organizational needs:
Working directly with Development and Operations staff to support overall project needs.
Preparing, updating, reviewing, and editing fact sheets, website content, memos, correspondence, reports, or other written materials. More.
Internship Opportunities, OneWorld Now!
OneWorld Now! is seeking responsible and committed young adults with a passion for working with underrepresented youth, international educational opportunities, and a growing non-profit organization. We offer a variety of internship opportunities throughout the year and seek to provide a flexible, challenging and rewarding environment… More.
Social Networking Team Member, Community Empowerment Network
Are you interested in using the latest social tools to help our non-profit fight poverty?
Social networking team members will provide hands-on support for both the Social Networking and Marketing teams by building the Community Empowerment Network’s presence on Facebook, contributing with our blog, and helping to broaden our overall social presence. More.
Global Washington members—don’t forget to post your volunteer and intern positions to Global Washington’s Careers in Development Center. We are constantly reaching out to students and professionals who are eager to gain exposure to the global development sector. Let them help you achieve your mission! Register for a member login at https://globalwa.org/resources/careers-in-development/ and start recruiting today! For questions or more information, contact careercenter@globalwa.org
Fantastic networking opportunity: The Sustainable Industries Economic Forum.
The Sustainable Industries Economic Forums attract and feature impressive groups of business leaders in innovative companies all intent on building sustainable solutions. This 8th annual event in Seattle focuses on the Access Economy and features keynote speaker Van Jones, the inspiring and much lauded co-founder of Rebuild the Dream. The forum provides participants interactive presentations and “high-powered” networking.
The forum takes place June 14th, from 4-7pm at McCaw Hall, Seattle. Fees are $29 for general admission or $79 for VIP admission, which includes a private happy hour reception with keynote speakers and other VIPs. Registration is now open.
Global health hero to be presented medal of freedom
Washington’s own Dr. Bill Foege has been awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama for his unprecedented contributions to improving global health and establishing the global health field. Dr. Foege helped lead the campaign to eliminate small pox; he was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Executive Director of The Carter Center; and acted as a key counsel to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s global health focus. Dr. Foege earned his bachelor degree at Pacific Lutheran University and medical degree at University of Washington. To learn more about this inspiring and unassuming groundbreaker, take a look at the Humanosphere article and also the White House’s press release.
General Colin Powell discusses his book
On June 2nd, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell will talk about his life, his career, and his memoir, It Worked for Me. KING 5 Anchor, Jean Enersen, will moderate the conversation, organized by CityClub, in partnership with Elliott Bay Book Company. This opportunity to meet General Powell takes place at the Westin Seattle from 8-9pm. $35 buys you one book and one event ticket; $50 two tickets and one book. Registration is open at CityClub website.
Seattle Center’s Next 50 Celebration launches video contest
Do you have a short, inspiring or positive story about the next 50 years? As part of the ongoing anniversary celebration of the Seattle World’s Fair , the Next50 celebration invites you to submit a 2-minute or shorter video that shows how science, creativity, entrepreneurship or business will shape our future lives. Check out www.thenextfifty.org or www.N50Contest.org after June 1st to learn more about the contest guidelines. Videos must be submitted by August 1st. Videos will be judged by a panel of thought-leaders and also by the general public. Top videos receive cash prizes as well as top-notch recognition.
PATH’s launches new website dedicated to Sure Start project in India
Giving birth in India can be deadly. Every year, about 78,000 women die giving birth, and a million babies don’t survive their first month. But thanks to ordinary people called to action by PATH, mothers and babies in rural villages and urban slums are now safer.
So what does it take to save a life? PATH’s new website explains just that. Launched just in time for Mother’s Day, the website introduces you to the people of two small, rural villages who turned simple objects – a piggy bank, childhood games, or personal letters – into tools to get new families off to a healthy start.
Now is the time to speak up about the foreign assistance bill
This autumn, President Obama will sign the House and Senate’s compromise (or “enrolled”) version of the annual appropriations bill into law. Since the appropriations bill decides an entire year’s worth of federal government spending, and the next 4-6 weeks will determine the fate of the foreign assistance bill. The Obama Administration wants $54.839 billion for the FY 2013 State-Foreign Operations Budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee wants a $53.017 billion budget (about the same FY 2012’s). The House Appropriations Committee wants a $48.3 billion budget (9.3% less than FY 2012’s), which would lead to debilitating cuts to USAID, democracy promotion efforts, environmental programs, international organizations, disaster and refugee relief, and many other fields. The full House and Senate Appropriations Committees are formally marking up their subcommittee’s bills as we speak and they will complete the process before the end of May. That means that you must start calling or emailing your U.S. senators and representatives now while the bills are in committee if you want them to fight budget cuts that will hurt your organization or the international development field. For more information, please visit Global Washington’s Legislative Index (especially the Appropriations and Authorizations section) or the U.S. Global Leadership Council’s Budget Center.
Now, more than ever, organizations funded by the government need even more funds in order to continue to help under-developed nations. The success due to Congress’ investment in improving global health is greater than ever imagined, and in order to keep this success growing, more funds will be needed.
However, due to the cuts in foreign assistance funding, many of these programs will have to consider new ways to continue their work with a limited budget. The two types of funding, bilateral and multilateral, have paved the way for helping millions of people with new life-saving treatments. These treatments have helped in the fights against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and maternal and child mortality throughout the world.
The government funding has not only helped fight these diseases and issues, but also has ensured that over time countries will be able to sustain and hopefully take control of these efforts to prevent and treat diseases and maternal and child mortality.
Even though the U.S. government still supports global health programs, the decrease in funding has put a strain on global health organizations as they try to construct a new ways of implementing these programs with a smaller budget.
Our members’ stories are compelling and help us see why the state of Washington is such an important key to making the world a healthier, safer, and more equitable place. For this reason, this report is focused on highlighting key trends and illustrating them with the innovative work of our members. We hope that this will give you a snapshot of the diversity and depth of impact of Washington’s development sector. Read our annual report.
In honor of Mother’s Day last weekend, Landesa addressed a letter to mothers in the developing world:
On this Mother’s Day, Landesa salutes mothers in the developing world – our partners.
We advocate for your land rights not just because it is a good idea – but because it is essential for alleviating poverty.
We know that when you have secure rights to the land that you cultivate, you improve the land, which increases your yields. We know that you use those higher yields and extra income to meet your families’ needs, boosting family nutrition and health, and ensuring that your children stay in school.
We spend our time in the field listening to you. And from China to Rwanda, and India to Uganda, we hear the same refrain: you need secure rights to land.
So that your children will have a better future. A future free of conflict.
And a future full of prosperity.
Mothers, we hear you.
With you and your governments as our partners, we will continue to help you obtain a powerful tool you can use to break the cycle of poverty – secure rights to land.
Over the next few weeks, appropriators will be engaged in the challenging task of evaluating U.S. foreign assistance funding, including how effectively Congress’ global health investments are being used.
As organizations funded in part by the U.S government to implement global health programs in the field, we agree that every effort should be made to ensure that funding is used efficiently and distributed in a timely manner. But we also see firsthand how U.S. global health programs are working, and why now is not the time to cut multilateral and bilateral funding for these efforts.
Congress’ decadelong investment in improving global health has been more successful than most of us in this field could have ever imagined. Millions of people are alive today because of signature multilateral programs such as the GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and U.S.-led bilateral initiatives including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the President’s Malaria Initiative, and assistance for tuberculosis and maternal and child health. This success has taken place in parts of the world where progress once seemed unlikely, and often within health systems once thought to be beyond repair.
In regions where little hope existed just 10 years ago, U.S. global health funding has paved the way for dramatic gains against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and maternal and child mortality — and has transformed the lives of millions in the process.
In one of the few sunny days of Seattle’s early spring, over fifty people traveled to iLEAP’s presentation and meeting space for Global Washington’s Second Global Workers event. The second installation of this series asked speakers Andrea Ballard and Deborah Agrin to dissect a question that many current and prospective professionals struggle with: What is it that employers really want?
Andrea Ballard, Human Resources Consultant and Career Coach, and Deborah Agrin, current Director of Development and Engagement at Vittana, both brought different perspectives on the job hunt to their talks. The event began with a networking skills workshop led by Ballard. All attendees were asked to practice networking skills they would soon use with employers with each other; and began meeting fellow professionals in the process. The event culminated with a question and answer session addressed to both speakers to build on each other’s perspectives. When asked for final tips, Agrin suggested “be[ing] curious and experiment[ing]”. Ballard implored attendees to “get out of [their] houses and away from [their] computers” when applying for jobs.
But what experimentation did Agrin mean? What did Ballard suggest other than endlessly filling out job applications over the internet?
Both speakers attested to the need of certain skills in the development community, and both speakers assured the audience that those skills could be refined in a number of environments. In short, a perfect candidate for the development field may not come from the development field. Project management is one capacity that the audience was told employers find impressive. The ability to set targets, plan strategically to carry out an assignment, and follow through is a necessity in a field where funding is always at risk. Impact evaluation was also cited as an attractive ability. The speakers pointed out that specialists in statistical analysis, research, or project design could find their skill sets welcomed in this field. Finally, business management was highlighted. Knowing how to do what you say and knowing how to run projects and organizations efficiently makes candidates more competitive.
Both speakers also noted that the most effective people in this field are those with a certain faculty of flexibility. A person who has lived overseas demonstrates that they can survive and work in another culture while a person who is entrepreneurially minded demonstrates a mental agility to take advantage of opportunity where others may not.
When the conversation turned to resumes, several points stood out. Ballard advised applicants to list job accomplishments rather than job duties on their resumes. Often an employer has a partial idea of what you do based on the title you’ve been given. Using your resume as a way to elaborate on how well you did a job or how you did your job differently than most is a good way to display competence in the small space on a resume. Displaying a fluency in different kinds of language is also a skill that many possess but few use their resume to highlight. “Good communication skills” is a common resume phrase. A phrase like “able to adjust communication to fit written, verbal, and business settings” may more accurately describe the importance of your communication abilities.
Ultimately, both speakers were at the event to illuminate the many paths a person with ambitions to enter the development field could take. Recent graduates and students were encouraged to take on all the internships and fellowships they could to accumulate direct experience and responsibility. Mid-career professionals were urged to leverage the skills they’ve already acquired to interview better and build up their resumes. Global Washington thanks the speakers, and those that were able to attend the workshop. We look forward to seeing you all at the next event in the Global Workers series.
What’s a smart way to empower women worldwide? Get the men involved and give them a chance to feel like they are a part of the solution. In other words, build collaboration. This past week, Ritu Sharma, co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, wrote an op-ed, “Violence against women is no ‘women’s issue’” for Politico about the importance of men’s involvement in empowering women. Using examples from various countries, Sharma gives proof that men need to be involved in shifting the belief systems around customs that tolerate and even promote violence against women. One example stands out about a man who “didn’t know [he] was not supposed to beat [his] wife,” but who learned through adult education classes that this learned behavior wasn’t necessary, nor productive. It’s a bit of a shock to read that mindset, but it is not unusual. While working in rural Kenya a couple of years ago, I heard a few men make similar claims, or explain that, according to (insert religious text here), they had the right to treat women as their subordinates and discipline them as necessary. Similarly, some women felt that their husbands had the right to hit them and that this act showed their commitment.
As the article infers, violence against women requires changing the mindset of all those involved – the men and the women of all ranks. Honoring the status bestowed upon men in many cultures promotes more lasting and successful attitudinal changes in the communities. This has been proven from Haiti to South Africa. Seattle-based Landesa, an organization working to secure land rights in the developing world, has many success stories about men and women empowering each other by working together. For such a story, read Deborah Espinoza’s blog entry, “Land rights for women – a ripple effect.”
Sharma’s op-ed came out the same week the Senate was kicking around the expired Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and trying to cut out key pieces of the Act to purportedly save a few dollars. On Thursday, it passed (phew!), with less funding, but with all key elements still intact. That the VAWA was even considered negotiable is an embarrassing message to the world (if anyone out there can still stomach listening to our politicians). Communities of men and women in developing countries are challenging themselves to change their mindsets and adhere to a more respectful attitude towards women and structures of dominance. Such work could prove beneficial right here, too.
Many people who, like me, have crossed into the social sector from a for-profit background, want to see nonprofits take advantage of business principles to generate ever better outcomes. Continuous improvement is one such tool.
To oversimplify, continuous improvement involves capturing crucial performance data in ongoing feedback loops so staff can make enhancements to better serve customers. This process is best known in manufacturing, but the principle has been applied broadly. In service industries, where products are not purchased, cycles of market research and satisfaction tracking can still shape how companies iterate in delivering benefits to customers.
The process involves noticing, capturing, and sharing data on all sorts of dimensions to uncover problem patterns or discover what could be done better. Practitioners react to the information and develop new insights. They adjust what they do and then see how that changes things, starting a new cycle of data gathering. This is exactly how we hope social causes progress. In order to use continuous improvement techniques, an organization needs to watch for leading indicators (earlier than outcome metrics) so changes can be tried sooner, more frequently, and with different subgroups. Unlike traditional monitoring and evaluation, a continuous improvement process is less concerned with maintaining a stable baseline or consistent treatment for comparison at an end point, but instead fosters regular course adjustments, observing what appears to achieve the desired effect.
For-profit businesses invest millions of dollars in market research and customer satisfaction feedback to inform this process. When driven to satisfy customers and the bottom line, companies chase questions most relevant to potential improvements and find ways to embed monitoring into daily operations. They know the resulting insights enable them to create the kind of value that leads to increased purchasing.
While continuous improvement principles can be applied by any nonprofit or social enterprise, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are especially well-placed to employ them. MFIs already operate as a business, are data-driven, and have used similar processes to achieve high repayment rates or to control costs. That’s how they can affordably provide masses of hard to reach people with loans as little as $50.
With the research of Portfolios of the Poor, microfinance is at an inflection point, more aware of the hardships resulting from erratic incomes for people in poverty and the importance of diverse financial tools like insurance to protect against inevitable shocks or savings to provide stability and asset growth. Continuous improvement could be used to assist MFIs in moving from this recognition of client needs to creating effective products and services that fulfill those needs.
It’s a balancing act to diversify services that both address clients’ needs and operate profitably enough to keep expanding into unreached markets. MFIs could apply a continuous improvement approach in these three areas: a) product designs and delivery, b) customer satisfaction feedback systems, and c) social performance management. If MFI’s can build client satisfaction feedback loops they can pay closer attention to and adjust how different products help lives improve. R&D responsive to real-time client input could more rapidly prototype products that meet client-focused needs in new ways. Social performance management can add greater value if designed to glean insights that fuel ongoing improvements vs. react to external questions of impact. Fortunately, with the spread of mobile phones, rough but real-time customer satisfaction tracking, market research, and social performance management surveys could feasibly become automated, and the resulting improvements in operations and product designs could make it worth paying for customer texts (if not covered by a corporate partner).
Thought leaders in the social sector are beginning to outline the elements of such an approach. Former American Evaluation Association President, Michael Quinn Patton “assume[s] a world of multiple causes, diversity of outcomes, inconsistency of interventions, [and] interactive effects at every level”. To address this, he says in “Evaluation for the Way We Work”, we need embedded evaluators partnering and shaping the “long-term, ongoing process of continuous improvement, adaptation, and intentional change” with more of a “probe-sense-respond” outlook. See Patton’s table in the paper that outlines the qualities different from traditional methods and case studies put in action by FSG’s Strategic Learning & Evaluation Center. Dean Spitzer, another corporate authority, applies his “Performance Measurement Cycle” to turn data into wisdom, action, and continuous learning for social objectives (“Dean Spitzer on Interactivity: The Key to Improving Performance Mea…”). Behavioral economics is incorporating psychology to tweak poverty interventions, such as through Princeton’s Eldar Shafir’s study on the role of marketing in supporting U.S. financial inclusion.
What’s necessary for continuous improvement success? It will take cost-effective feedback mechanisms, expertise, and understanding funders. The social sector needs to build expertise and incentives if it is to benefit from continuous improvement disciplines. MFIs and NGOs will see greater success by owning this problem and building capacity so they can drive the process of learning to make swift adjustments for better outcomes rather than reacting to external scrutiny. Funders need to support this process with tolerance of instructive risks and failures, flexible reporting and budget designations, and resources for social organizations to develop new expertise.
Let’s set a benchmark for an ideal percentage of budget that NGOs spend on continuous improvement (not merely tracking and reporting), similar to what companies spend on market research. And let’s not punish that as “inefficient overhead,” but rather as “sharpening the saw” for better results as Stephen Covey observes in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Let’s learn to publicly celebrate and reward whenever an organization discovers a mistake and makes a change to fix it or takes advantage of a new experiment. Even if trials fail, and those lessons inform other attempts, let’s learn to rejoice with Thomas Edison who found 999 ways not to make a light bulb.
We can’t wait for perfect solutions to such urgent problems, but better outcomes should evolve faster from the “speed-of-business” operations of microfinance or emerging social enterprises as they develop mechanisms for rapid response to client needs. Investing in this approach is one way the corporate world thrives at creating value, wealth, and products/services that people want, so let’s apply it in the social sector to meet human needs.
Further Reading:
Development Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use by Michael Quinn Patton
As ACCION International’s Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships and Adjunct Professor of Northwest University’s master’s course on sustainable organizations, Chris Wolff applies his business background to companies seeking to achieve business plus social objectives through “shared value” or corporate social responsibility. For more information, visit www.accion.org/corporate.
Greetings,
Amanda started her position as the Membership & Development Associate for Global Washington in March of 2012. Prior to joining Global Washington, Amanda worked for the USDA- Agricultural Research Service in St. Paul, MN conducting field research examining the effects of Biochar on soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling. She has extensive experience in research, sustainability and data management.
David Michener’s comment was made in response to a question about how he came up with The Village Pig Project’s particular approach to sustainability. Joe King, a current board member of the project, was kind enough to speak to us to further clarify their project’s ambitions.
On a trip to Cambodia, King visited a graduate of the Village Pig’s program and found that he had become something of an entrepreneur. This graduate had a pond behind his home that was created by ordinance from “The American War” (The Cambodian term for our “Vietnam War”). With the proceeds from breeding and selling pigs, he was able to start raising tilapia in the pond and is currently using this money and food to support his extended family. Another graduating, the family used their earned income to send their daughter to a beauty school in the city. She has since moved back to the village and opened her own beauty salon complete with a car battery that powers her hair dryer.
How would you describe your job? “As a Research Associate, I primarily work to support our team leaders in meeting our broader project goals around a specific development/advocacy issue. This usually means identifying, researching, synthesizing, and presenting the ideas, information, news, and data critical to helping us understand a specific issue and designing an effective strategy to take action on it. 
On this Mother’s Day, Landesa salutes mothers in the developing world – our partners.