Professionals lend skills to 3rd-world nonprofits

A new international organization with Omaha ties allows executives to use their business expertise to assist nonprofit organizations in developing nations.

Executives Without Borders was founded in 2008, said Lori Stohs, an account executive for Microsoft Corp. in Omaha and a founding board member. Board members reside in the United States, Singapore, India and France.

Sampy Gajre, owner of the Omaha-based CareerSearch Dynamics recruiting firm, recently developed an international marketing plan for Project Nanhi Kali in India, which provides resources to educate girls.

Executives Without Borders also currently is sponsoring projects in Rwanda and Honduras.

Stohs said the organization has a database of about 200 executives who want to apply the skills that made them successful to help nonprofit organizations in developing nations. Some participants work remotely, while others travel to other countries to work directly with the organizations for weeks or months at a time, Stohs said.

Stohs recruited Gajre to assist with Nanhi Kali, which Gajre said loosely translates to bud of a flower.

Gajre, who said she jumped at the chance to do nonprofit work in her native India, developed a plan to help the organization increase awareness and raise funds from outside the country.

It was an opportunity to combine her passion for work and for philanthropy to make a global impact, Gajre said.

Executives also are working with Mission Schools International in Rwanda, which builds schools that combine education, health care and nutrition to combat poverty, and with Central American Medical Outreach in Honduras, which provides medical care, equipment and expertise.

Projects are chosen based on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Stohs said. They are:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

• Achieve universal primary education.

• Promote gender equality and empower women.

• Reduce child mortality.

• Improve maternal health.

• Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

• Ensure environmental sustainability.

• Create global partnerships for development.

Robert Goodwin of New York City, CEO of Executives Without Borders, said the organization wants to work with nonprofit organizations in places it can have a long-term impact. Projects typically would last three to five years, he said.

Stohs said the executives' goal is to pass along knowledge and skills to sustain the improvements after they leave.

And beyond the three formal projects, Goodwin said, the network of executives assists other organizations through knowledge sharing.

“The real power is in the network,” he said.

Executives Without Borders assesses the needs of the nonprofit organizations and then assigns executives with compatible skills to work on various aspects of the project, Stohs said. The executives are highly engaged because they are doing what they do best, she said.

Marketing and information technology are two areas in which the organizations typically need assistance, she said.

Working together across continents and time zones could be difficult, but technology makes it easier, Goodwin said.

The organization hopes to prove that its process of teaming executives with nonprofit organizations works, so more volunteers and groups get involved, he said.

But that will take money, he said. Initial funding came from private donations, foundations and board members.

Combining a “mission heart” of the nonprofit organization and a “business mind” of the executives could remove some of the obstacles such groups face, he said.

These kinds of projects yield benefits beyond the individual countries, Goodwin said.

Improving health care and education contributes to global economic development and stability, he said, and makes those areas less likely to fall under the influence of extremists. He said such projects also could improve diplomatic relations with the United States.

“We leverage the talent in companies working around the world to help us solve the world's challenges.”

Contact the writer:

444-1085, stefanie.monge@owh.com

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