Counterpart International, an NGO that partners with local organizations around the world to build inclusive, sustainable communities, is revealing how they have built a culture within the organization that is used to successfully work with their partners in forging positive change.
Counterpart International builds locally based partnerships between citizens, government, civil society, and the private sector in the areas of food security, democracy, rights and governance, women’s empowerment, and climate resiliency. The partnerships give the organization the ability to work directly with community members and governmental bodies in the regions they work in. They often work as facilitators, bringing community and government members together to build positive change.
The organization was founded in 1965 by Betty Silverstein and Stan Hosie with the goal of helping communities in the South Pacific countries. Together, Silverstein and Hosie worked to change the perception that in order to help communities there needs to be massive amounts of international funding and government assistance from foreign countries.
Counterpart International was founded on the belief that creating local ownership and building problem-solving capabilities at the local level is the best way to create positive change for communities in need around the world that will have a lasting impact.
When Dr. Ann Hudock, the current President and CEO of Counterpart International, started working at the organization, she made it her priority to focus on the culture within Counterpart International to ensure the people working there felt valued and were having their hard work seen. Hudock says when she began working at Counterpart International, the organization was facing challenges.
“When I first started, Counterpart had been trying to keep up with the massive amount of growth it had been experiencing," says Hudock. “But then the award that fueled that growth ended and we needed to retool our work to be competitive for winning new work. We invested in new business processes and engaging technical experts who could inform and refresh our tools and approaches."
To bring Counterpart International back into the forefront of the international development community, Hudock invested in industry convenings to share experiences helping communities in need. The organization moved its Virginia offices to downtown DC to enable access to donors and partners. Hudock and her team refined the methods that had been in place in the organization throughout its history in order to rebuild the success of Counterpart International. Hudock wasn’t alone in her aspirations for change. She says she has a dedicated senior leadership team that has helped grow the organization and keep her on track with developing changes within the organization.
Counterpart International further embraced change when they began to prioritize psychological safety following an attack by the Taliban on one of their offices in Afghanistan. The traumatic event affected those who survived the attack. Hudock and the leadership team knew they had to create a workplace culture that would embrace the mental wellbeing of everyone who is a part of Counterpart International.
The organization began discussions around wellbeing as well as diversity, equity and inclusion training as part of their mission to provide psychological safety. Hudock says…
“When we started implementing the tools to ensure psychological safety within Counterpart International it became not just something for the people who work in the organization but also a way for us to provide those same services and tools to the communities we work with,”
As Counterpart International continues to build a positive and nurturing culture within the organization that is projected into the communities they serve, the organization will continue to raise resources. Hudock says the team at Counterpart International is seeking to raise unrestricted resources, which is funding that isn’t tied to a grant. According to Hudock, they are seeking these types of unrestricted resources in order to work with more partners that align with their mission and vision.
“We want to build a movement and group of people who believe in the mission of Counterpart, so we can work together and help communities around the world work through the challenges they face,” says Hudock.
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