2018 Annual Report - Print

Our Approach: Partnership

When it comes to changing the world, no one can do it alone. But all too often, the people and institutions working to solve global challenges operate in isolation, leaving community needs unmet and donor dollars underutilized.

At Partners of the Americas, our approach is different. We bring the right mix of players — volunteers, development professionals, governments, businesses, and civil society institutions — to the table in order to match resources, knowledge, and passion to need. By connecting local organizations to broader funding opportunities and empowering citizens to become agents of change, we develop lasting solutions to our hemisphere’s toughest challenges, together.

It’s the simple notion of partnership, and we believe it can change everything.

Letter from the president & Board Chair

Over this past year, Partners of the Americas has harnessed the power of partnerships to empower citizens to become agents of change. We have strengthened our legacy and bolstered our impact: we reached 100 chapters with many celebrating 50 years of service, expanded our Child Protection Unit to combat child labor and forced labor in the palm oil sector, kicked off a new round of Farmer-to-Farmer that will field over 600 volunteers in six countries, and launched professional development seminars for U.S. exchange alumni. Throughout all of this, Partners endures as an engine for connecting passion with human need.

This was also a time of honing our vision as an organization that does not just connect people across borders, but also within them. We create synergy by bringing together diverse communities across the hemisphere through exchanges and partnerships, while also responding to unique local needs through our development programs. Completing a process in 2019 of strategic planning that will result in our Strategic Plan 2019-2023, we will continue to focus on how we can reinvent ourselves from a good organization to a great one.

Concurrently, Partners remains true to the immense purpose that President John F. Kennedy inspired almost 55 years ago, building people-to-people connections to better our world. We continue to epitomize the core values of education and global citizenship, child protection, and economic development and health.

At Partners, we have seen how lasting connections have provided classroom heaters for children in Chile and taught refugees how to read in Brazil, along with so many other life-changing partnerships. We hope you will once again join Partners as we remain unwavering in our dedication to serve communities throughout the Western Hemisphere.

President & CEOBoard Chairman