Warner Woodworth, a global social entrepreneur who has spent 30 years consulting for international NGOs observed:"The white man used to come in saying, 'We'll make the decisions. We'll bring the money, the tools, the John Deere tractors. You just do what we tell you."
"There's a big shift in thinking. Aid work is becoming more of a collaboration and a partnership. The real way an NGO becomes high impact is if it's owned by the indigenous people," Woodworth said.
Many in developing countries lack education and leadership skills, he said. But educational opportunities are improving and investing in teaching these skills could be a nonprofit's best investment.
"We can help them with that," he said. "We can train them. And the more and sooner the work is owned by the people, the more successful it will be."
Laps for Learning pushes forward its mission of education as the key to capacity building, leadership training and ultimately the successful creation of a productive village through education, collaboration and trust. Working together on both sides of the equation produces an amazing solution to end poverty.
