September has been a busy month for travel in the international development field, and it was no different for Global Impact! Nathaniel previously reflected on the three things he rediscovered are important for bringing teams together in person – learning things together, overcoming challenges together and spending social time together. After this whirlwind of a month, we can confirm that these three elements hold true! See everything our staff have been up to recently:
Innovating in Massachusetts: Geneva Global sponsored the Innovations in International Philanthropy Symposium Sept. 7-8. Megan Hophan, Samantha Grant and Kasey Oliver raised questions on what it means to fail, discussed what equity looks like in grantmaking practices and reflected on why philanthropy is often scared of taking risks.
Presenting in the UK: Geneva Global’s Joshua Muskin, Abdechafi Boubkir, Rebecca Ecwou, and Abebayehu Kassa co-presented with education ministry officials Bosco Okello, from Uganda, and Dr. Bultossa Hirko, from Ethopia, at the UKFIET Conference 2023. The presentations focused on the opportunities and challenges of implementing Ethiopia’s new competency-based curriculum, and lessons learned from implementing education communities of practice in Ethiopia’s IDP communities. The team also attended many brilliant sessions and networked with old and new connections.
Training in Texas: Our Campaign Representative Sandy Wilder visited the City of Austin Combined Charitable Campaign (COACCC) event on Sept. 12, where new and returning campaign coordinators enjoyed several hours of training and idea sharing. The campaign kicks off on Oct. 1 and has a goal of raising $400,000 this year. This year’s campaign co-chairs issued a challenge to the coordinators and all city employees: “We are an organization of 14,000+, and through dedicated public service, we demonstrate our commitment to the vision of the best Austin. Weird. Creative. Compassionate. We are fortunate to have a strong and thriving community of organizations that work alongside us. What better way to show meaningful support of that commitment than through a donation to the 2023 Combined Charities campaign?”
Learning in New York: Staff attended the Clinton Global Initiative, held by our charity partner the Clinton Foundation, and the Concordia Annual Summit Sept. 18-20. We learned a lot from insightful panels on women and girls, global health and the SDGs. These events were not only a learning experience – we also had the opportunity to announce the Advancing Health Online Initiative’s new collaboration with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance during Concordia!
Spending time together in Kenya: Matt Gembecki, our Managing Director of Partner Solutions, spent a week in Kenya with our Charity Alliance member and client Islamic Relief USA. They visited a number of projects that Matt has helped Islamic Relief raise funds for over the years.
Networking in Washington, D.C.: Global Impact was named a Moxie Award finalist in the nonprofit category. The Moxie Award, which will be held Oct. 25, celebrates organizations in the DC metro area that have demonstrated boldness and innovation as an integral part of their growth strategy. In preparation for next month’s event, our CEO Scott Jackson, Board Chair Anita Whitehead, Board Members Karen Wawrzaszek and Steve Polo, and Managing Director of Campaign Engagement Brittany Mattfeld Craig met with the judges and presented a three-minute pitch.
And finally, celebrating in Virginia: The 2023 Combined Federal Campaign kicked off on Sept. 26 with a live broadcast from our office in Alexandria. Federal employees, retirees, charities, supporters and donors joined together to celebrate and promote choosing to GIVE HAPPY through the CFC.
We are happy we had a full schedule of in-person time and will take these cherished moments with us into year end.
