EMpower Announces New Strategic Plan

EMpower is pleased to announce the successful completion of an intensive planning process towards the implementation of a new strategic plan.

Since our founding in 2000, EMpower has grown at an amazing rate; we’re making more grants to more organizations in more countries. We have grown at a compound rate of over 50% in the last five years, and have attracted important funders including Ashmore Foundation, Barclays, Credit-Suisse, GMO, JPMorgan, LyonRoss, The Rohatyn Group, and Spinnaker Capital (view a complete list of Underwriters and Board Members: http://www.empowerweb.org/emp). We have also entered into a multi-year partnership with the Nike Foundation that has raised our profile in the philanthropic sector.

In 2008, we determined that the time had come to evaluate our progress and decide how best to go forward.

Our Strategic Planning Team worked for the last six months to discover what we needed to do to maximize our impact and effectiveness. Through research and interviews, benchmarking and modeling, we’ve come up with a new strategic plan which was approved by both the UK and US Board of Directors on January 21st, 2009.The key components of the plan are:

1. Stability – the establishment of a platform for sustainable growth ensuring that EMpower continues to develop beyond the involvement of current staff and Boards,

2. Governance – a clear structure that will allow EMpower’s work and vision to be carried out effectively across different geographical regions (currently New York and London and potentially in Asia in the future), and

3. Program – a three-fold grantmaking strategy enabling EMpower to fund innovative and effective initiatives; build the capacity and reach of local organizations; and link organizations to one another, to the EM sector, and other experts who can strengthen each organization’s impact.

The research and interview process confirmed that we were heading in the right direction. There’s a great need for the work we do therefore it’s critical that we continue to grow while maintaining a clear focus on our target: to help at-risk youth thrive in a globalizing world. We will continue to partner with organizations in the approximately 20 emerging market countries where we can do the most good. We will fund programs in education, livelihoods, leadership and health, in order to allow young people to access the services and opportunities that will enable them to become positive agents of change in their communities.

One of EMpower’s strengths has always been its commitment that 100% of donor funds go directly to the local organizations whose expertise, innovation and social capital provides them with the tools they need to impact the lives of at-risk youth. With administrative expenses covered by our committed underwriters, we will continue to ensure that all contributions go right to where they are needed most: the programs changing the lives of young people in emerging countries.

Our excitement in beginning to write this new chapter in EMpower’s history is tempered, but not diminished, by the current economic situation. If anything, it forces us to work harder as it makes it even more important that we achieve our goals. We plan on steady and sustained growth through the next five years. Our Boards and staff are committed to doing the hard work that needs to be done, knowing that those we help today will help us to build a stronger and more stable world tomorrow.