I oversee the Public Affairs Department of Population Services International (PSI), one of the largest non-profit global health organizations which Fast Company and the Monitor Group named a Social Capitalist winner in 2008 for the second consecutive year. Another Fast Company connection: The May 2008 issue features an article ("When the Giving Gets Tough") about GiveWell.net, a new charity evaluator, that named PSI as the non-profit that saves African lives more cost-effectively than any other http://www.givewell.net/cause1: "PSI simultaneously runs programs that appear as cost-effective and well-monitored as anyone else's, and impresses us most as an organization - in terms of its rigorous self-documentation, commitment to transparency, and coherent overall strategy."
Although my bachelor's degree is in journalism and my first two jobs out of college were at newspapers, a life-changing Peace Corps experience diverted me from my chosen career path and directed me towards international development in which I have worked in communications, social marketing, public affairs, strategic planning and management. My first developing country experience was teaching agriculture in a secondary school in the West African nation of Togo. After Peace Corps, I spent 15 years starting and managing programs in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America and in directing diverse health and agricultural programs in Paraguay, Bangladesh, Zambia and Mali. Je parle français, hablo español y falo um pouco de português.
www.fastcompany.com/user/114075
Director, Population Services International (PSI)
Non-Profit, 101-500 employees, Nonprofits / Associations industryI revamped PSI’s public affairs operation by making it more strategic and targeted and moved communications from a totally print orientation to a more electronic approach including website redesign, YouTube and social networking. I pioneered PSI’s congressional outreach and advocacy, resulting in many new allies of both political parties willing to act on PSI’s behalf. By managing media relations, I stimulated articles, editorials and letters with major media including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Associated Press, BBC and CNN. and worked with Harvard Business School to develop three PSI case studies in two years. I have presented on social marketing and communications at Harvard, George Washington, Georgetown, Howard, Syracuse, Thunderbird, Hunter College and universities of Maryland and Michigan.
Country Representative, Paraguay, Population Services International (PSI)
Non-Profit, 21-50 employees, Nonprofits / Associations industryFounded and developed Paraguay’s biggest health NGO and PSI’s most cost-efficient affiliate organization in the world. Managed portfolio of social marketing projects in adolescent reproductive health and maternal health with total annual funding of $1 million.
Country Representative, Bangladesh, Population Services International (PSI)
Non-Profit, 501-1000 employees, Nonprofits / Associations industryServed as resident advisor to Social Marketing Company, the largest private social marketing organization in the world, with 450 employees and annual budget of $4 million, and an essential part of an acknowledged global health success story.
Minnesota State University at Moorhead, Minnesota, United States
Bachelor’s degree, 1977.
Areas of study: Mass Communications, emphasis in print journalism
Articles published in Fast Company magazine about Social Responsibility
Social Responsibility blogs written by our members and chosen by our editors.
Strategies, tools, and ideas for nonprofits, foundations, and socially responsible businesses.
A gateway to information on international development issues. Provides free and easy access to materials on developing countries, development policy, practice and research.
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