More and more small and large businesses, social organisations, governments, research institutes and investors seek new models and solutions that create sustainable economic, social and environmental value and contribute to a world with less social inequality. They are aware of the importance of change and of the need to initiate new forms of cooperation that tackle existing problems and create solutions. Partnerships are therefore increasingly sought for, initiated and developed. Both inside and outside the Netherlands. By creating smart connections between various actors, processes of change can become better, faster and cheaper.

At the beginning of 2016, ‘Partnering for Social Impact’ became a fact. With this company, I love putting my international management experience, my network and my knowledge of social and sustainable development processes to work to create social value. I work enthusiastically and in an result oriented way on connecting people from NGOs, governments and the private sector, all with their different backgrounds, nationalities, ideas and purposes, to create and/or strengthen joint strategies for social impact.

My personal and business mission is to connect people, stories, nationalities, innovations and solutions in order to improve efforts that promote equal rights and development opportunities for all.

More about this on this site!

Examples of the collaborations with Partnering for Social Impact 

Start-up, design & facilitate (international) connections

Connecting people and organisation for partnerships

• Facilitation / coordination of the organisation of the International Meeting: Taking next steps to end child labour in the global supply chains. Commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Social Affairs, ILO, Global March against Child Labour and the RVO (2019/2020).
• Programme development in various countries: Engaging private sector in the garment (Bangladesh) and tourism sector (Nepal, Indonesia, Colombia, Peru) to invest in women economic empowerment (2018-2020).
• Project management: The creation of an online community for Dutch entrepreneurs in Colombia.
• Advice on and organisation of two unique roadshows in May 2016, commissioned by RVO, for Dutch entrepreneurs investing in (or planning to) in Colombia.
• Together with Generous Minds, contribution to business cases with social impact: cooperation with the Cordaid Social Adventure Challenge; the Impact Booster; the organisation of a challenge for some social enterprises.

Analysis of trends/ research

• Together with the Institute Clingendael, publication of a policy brief about the impact of COVID-19 on value chains, in particular on the position of young people and women (2020).
• Gain insight into the state of the art of recent developments in youth employability, with a particular focus on West Africa. Develop a business case for the private sector to invest in youth employment and skills development, after consultation with companies, employers’ organization, ILO, the Ministry / RVO, knowledge institutions, trade union partners of CNVI from West Africa and NGOs (2018).
• Report for Plan International NL and Accenture on Investing in girls and young women in global supply chains. Presented during the Innovation Award Event of Accenture (2017).
• Advice to RVO/Fonds Duurzaam Water(FDW) on integration of gender in running programs. Development of tools to assess gender as part of the Fund.
• Mapping / power analyse as input for CARE’s lobby & advocacy strategy as part of a program for female entrepreneurship.

Give direction to (international) partnerships / projects

Strategy development / programming

• The Dutch government is committed to complying with international guidelines for corporate social responsibility (the OECD guidelines). The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) has asked the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to map out how international responsible business conduct can be proportionally and lawfully anchored in existing and new (subsidy) instruments of EZK. Commissioned by the RVO and EZK, the ENACT team (of which I formed part) carried out a feasiblity study and presented a plan of action (2020).
• Strategy development for Plan International Netherlands (in partnership with Ministry of Foreign affairs) on private sector engagement and women empowerment in global supply chains (with a focus on Ready-Made Garment and tourism) (2018-2019).
• Development of the monitoring, evaluation, learning and communication strategy of ICCO office in Colombia and advising on its implementation, in particular for three main programs. Coaching of the ICCO team (at distance) in the implementation of the strategy (2018-2019).
• Facilitation of strategic session between ICCO and Melting Pot Foundation, owners of Manq’a, to prepare further decision-making of Manq’a board and draw up an action plan for fundraising, coordination of communication and fundraising activities (2018 /2019).
• Development of a communication strategy for Kerk in Actie in Colombia (2018).
• Facilitation of strategy session for the board of the ASML Foundation.
• Strategic advisory assignment with regard to the further development, positioning and earnings modelof the Wicked Problem Plaza (a meeting place for a multitude of players from the NGO, government, financial and academic world and the business community, who combine complex international development problems and possible solutions) (2016).

Fundraising for impact

• In collaboration the organisation of a fundraising dinner with restaurant @rijks
• The development of a proposal for the Manq’a circular.
• Facilitator of process of creation of a public-private partnership for young people constructing peace and employment opportunities via the gastronomic world in Colombia (Manq’a).

Tools to facilitate impact creation

• For Plan International NL and members of the Girls Advocacy Alliance development of a Gender-responsive Human Rights Due Diligence tool (2020).
• Publication of lessons learned on due diligence and child labour (2020).
• Contribution to online platform about GR-HRDD for WomenWin (2021).
• For CNV International and collaborating organisations FNV, Fair Wear, ETI and ACV, Partnering for Social Impact started a project to develop context-specific information about freedom of associationfor companies that work with suppliers in Asian countries.Starting with Vietnam and Bangladesh.
• Development of fact sheets for embassies (in the context of the IRBC guidelines for embassies) about the importance of social dialogue and freedom of association (completion in 2021).
• Realization of a guide for SMEs about the prevention of violence and harassment in the workplace (available in English, Spanish and French, published during the Orange the World campaign) (2020).
• Expert on public-private partnerships and due diligence projects related to prevention of child labour in global supply chains, funded by the Fund against Child Labour. Organization and facilitation of numerous knowledge sessions for partners (businesses, NGOs, others) involved (2018-2020), on child labour due diligence, monitoring child labour, stakeholder mapping, impact assessments, etc..
• Development and coordination of a training-coaching project in all international departments of the Ministry/RVO on gender and business (2017). This included the development of gender assessment, monitoring, and communication tools.
• Organisation and facilitation of knowledge session about the prevention of Violence @work (May 2017).

Storytelling

• Together with Fair Wear and on behalf of Plan International NL, gathering of stories about the importance of gender equality across the entire clothing supply chain. Stories of women in the sewing workshops in Bangladesh, of brands in The Netherlands that invest in gender equality, of trade unions, and experts who reflect on the importance of equality in the workplace from different angles and in various formats (articles, video, photograpy, expert sessions, etc.). These stories are being communicated from March 8 (2021) on, via various social media channels. See here.
• Development of fact sheets for union officials in the Netherlands and in partner countries of CNV International about the IRBC Agreements for Textiles, Banks, Sustainable Wood, Food, Pensions and Metal to help translate the Covenants into practice. Also development of a monitoring format for CNV to be able to manage its own contribution to the covenants (2018-2019).
• Article on Impact Investing writing for e.g. Revista Responsabilidad Social (Colombia).
• Co-author of Global Report for CARE and H&M Foundation on women entrepreneurship. An innovative storytelling product presented by CARE in March 2017 at the CWS in New York.
• Sistematisation and storytelling of the youth in the Manq’a Model in Bolivia and Colombia (2018).
• The writing of six portraits of entrepreneurs investing and working in Colombia (for the Holland House).
• Blogs on due diligence, gender, child labour, youth, click here on this website.
• Key note speaker on “quality education for all” for the Netherlands Association of Foundations.
• Guest speaker at the International Cracking The Nut Conference in Thailand on behalf of the Manq’a project team in Colombia/ Bolivia. Contribution to publication on Reinforcing Food Systems to Meet Urban Demand.
• Presenting publications in various occasions and facilitation of  knowledge sessions.

SERVICES

With a lot of enthusiasm, I accelerate the creation of strategies and initiatives, and I give direction to the (joint) ideas of passionate entrepreneurs, NGOs, governments and academic institutes, in order to realise each individual as well as common goals and social impact.

Partnering for Social Impact offers the following services:

Start-up, design & facilitate (international) connections

• Connecting people and organisation for partnerships
• Analysing trends and developments, conduct research on specific topics and / or markets for knowledge, cooperation opportunities and/or strategising processes.
• To (help) create problems, solutions and stakeholder analysis.

Give direction to (international) partnerships / projects

• Organise and / or facilitate co-creation sessions to achieve business and / or program planning: mission, strategies, from planned results to execution.
• Seeking funding for a partnership, account management with donors or investors in The Netherlands.
• Develop tools to support businesses and other organisations in their ambitions to create social impact.

Managing (international) partnerships / projects

• Kick-starting a program.
• The daily management of a partnership / program / project.
• The monitoring of a partnership and interim reviews, using not only hard data but also storytelling techniques.
• Developing (online) monitoring instruments.
• Advice on adjustment of planning and strategy to achieve desired results.

Partnership communication: storytelling

Supporting organisations and businesses in the options to present (results of) initiatives, strategies or a partnership. Advise and think along on the possibilities to tell a real corporate, organisation and / or product story in an inspiring, engaging way.

For this, I work together with specialised communication experts. We use numerous communication capabilities. Think of written communication, visual communication with video and photography, infographics, drawings, using google maps and mobile applications to transform data into transparent, reliable and appealing presentations.

I love to tell about my work in presentations, workshop, conferences.

Review & evaluation

• (Interim) review / evaluation of partnerships.
• Doing a review of strategic project applications.
• Creating support within organisations for change through e.g. strategic conversations, meetings, collecting stories from employees.

ABOUT ME

Born in Mexico, I got acquainted with Latin America and its marvellous people. Later on, I travelled to and worked in all other continents and met many people with such interesting stories. Stories that show how resilient and powerful, entrepreneurial, persistent, creative, humorous and friendly people can be. They continue to inspire me to join forces and together create a more just and socially and economically sustainable world by initiating and evolving initiatives with a high social impact. I am doing so based on several core values that are essential in my life: justice, integrity, quality and transparency.  My maxim is: “Ubuntu: I am because we are.”

I am convinced that the solutions to a number of incredibly complex dilemmas in this world lie in bringing together various insights, disciplines and resources. As a cultural anthropologist ánd economist I have always been convinced that sustainable development requires proper alignment of social, ecological, political and economic dimensions. My personal passion, expertise and strength is more on the People side of sustainability. I also belief that a more gentle, qualitative, process oriented approach in combination with quantitative, results-based approaches yields better results.

My experience at internationally operating NGOs, the government, University, the UN, and as entrepreneur, developing strategic public-private partnerships, are an added value in this regard.

Analysis, co-creation and strategic development

Facilitating a co-creation process and developing an innovative project idea in an inter-disciplinary team is where I contribute with positive energy and ideas. The Manq’a program in Colombia is an example of such a dynamic process: developing a vocational education program for young people in socially disadvantaged districts, helping small-scale farmers to gain access to the local market for locally produced healthy products, and, enabling young people to develop and export a product with local ingredients that they can be justifiably proud of. I am able to create value for others in making various players join forces (in the Manq’a case Colombian and Dutch entrepreneurs, NGOs and government), each from their own specialty, working together towards a result, and in a good spirit. My contribution in such a process also is to help secure funding.

Multi-stakeholder networks

As manager of the strategy and program development division of the internationally operating NGO ICCO, creating connections was key. Connections within my team, with ICCO’s seven regional offices across the globe, but also to a large extent outside of the organisation, where I represented the board on steering committees of alliances and at the main donor, the Dutch foreign ministry. I bore the final responsibility for collaborations with social organisations (such as WASH, C4C, MVO-platform, WO=Men, CNV), businesses (via BopInc, AKVO, True Price, TextToChange, IDH) and knowledge institutes (for instance PrC, TNO). As a department, we introduced the multi-stakeholder work method – “the Dutch diamond” – at a regional level within the thematic programmes.

Meeting, sharing, jointly learning and inspiring another is characteristic for most of the collaborations with Partnering for Social Impact.

Strategic management in an international NGO

My role as department manager and management team member included motivating people to innovate and collectively take pride in successfully implemented initiatives. To create meaningful projects together, both inside and outside of the organisation, together with many other organisations. To enable a group of professionals to keep performing, with a spirit of creativity, entrepreneurship, trust and respect. This also took place during a period in which the organisation faced a number of reorganisations, which for me and my team implied redefining strategies, set priorities, and keep achieving the planned results.

Programme development- and management

For Partnering for Social Impact, I managed several projects over the last 5 years (see the above overview). 

As programme manager, I was responsible for setting up educational programs in 17 countries in collaboration with other NGOs, establishing and maintaining international relationships together with many other players (NGOs, the ministry, centres of expertise). I also experimented with various digital forms of knowledge management, provided proper accounting to the main donor and assessed the program’s social impact.

Living and working abroad

During my studies I had the privilege to live and work in France, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras (especially for UN agencies and governments). Hereafter, interesting and instructive working periods followed on the Netherlands Antilles (policy / program development, the coordination of EU funded projects, strategy and advice on Kingdom Affairs, the coordination of a poverty study), in the Dominican Republic (interim  management for a Red Cross HIV / AIDS prevention programme) and in Brazil (Sao Paulo university). For ICCO, I worked and visited in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Myanmar and Nepal.

Research skills and project management

Besides my research experience in Central America and the Dutch Antilles, I worked in the Netherlands for more than three years as a researcher / project manager for a (partly independent) research institute of the University of Amsterdam. As a program manager and department head at ICCO I have reviewed and supervised several research projects. For Partnering for Social Impact, I coordinated desk and field research for vairous organisations. 

Thematic expertise

Over the years I invested in and communicated about my knowledge of many areas of development (among others via blogs). Partnership building, corporate social responsibility / sustainability (with an additional degree at Erasmus University), human rights, business and human rights, education for work, child labour, civil society, gender, women and entrepreneurship, social impact measurement and storytelling are areas of expertise I keep investing in.

Language skills

I speak good English, Spanish, French, have a good understanding of Portuguese and I have experience with intercultural communication. Therefore, international as well as multi-cultural projects in Dutch society suit me well.

My ideal working environmentI like working in an environment where professionals are involved with each other, willing to share their expertise, complement each other, have an entrepreneurial spirit, and strive to provide quality. All this to develop good initiatives and accelerate others!