The Courage to Transform: Our Interim CEO’s Reflection on Change

As I conclude my two-year tenure as ICRW’s Interim CEO, I am proud of the progress we have made on our journey of transformation. When I rejoined ICRW in 2023, we were facing an uncertain future. While we had a nearly 50-year legacy of groundbreaking research and advocacy, many active and important projects around the world, and talented global staff spanning three continents, internal and external changes demanded that we reevaluate how we worked.

Increasingly powerful global opposition forces were reversing hard-won progress toward gender equity. Funding for gender equity and women’s rights was rapidly diminishing. Within our field, a justifiable call for decolonization and localization challenged us to rethink the traditional, US-headquartered model. We needed to be more agile, efficient, and responsive to the diverse realities of the regions where we operate.

ICRW’s board had anticipated many of these changes. In 2022, they wisely adopted a strategic vision to decentralize the organization and invest in the capacity and leadership of our long-standing regional offices in Asia and Africa. The vision was clear—but turning it into operational reality proved to be much harder.

Organizational transformation is never easy, even in the best of circumstances. In the face of scarce resources and existential threats, it’s a beast.

Yet, amidst the challenges and uncertainty, we remained grounded in our values and a few core principles:

• Loyalty to mission, above all: Throughout this process, we all recognized that our duty is to the mission, not the organizational structure, systems, or personal interests. Time and again, ICRW’s Boards and staff demonstrated that loyalty in action.
• Trust, especially in times of friction and disagreement: As we shifted toward independence and autonomy, it was natural to feel pulled to represent the interests of the office, group, or entity for which we felt the most responsibility. It may sound trite, but it really helped to remind ourselves that we are “one ICRW family,” anchored in our mission and committed to the best interests of our broader community.
• Outside technical expertise, especially legal and organizational development support: It’s easy to get stuck in old patterns of doing things. The guidance of external experts provided us with new ideas and fresh perspectives, helping us move forward. Bringing in Humentum as our outside organizational development partner helped us get “unstuck” and move from contemplation into decision-making mode.
• Solidarity from our partners: ICRW is not the only organization to have gone through massive changes over the last few years. Many of our partners have navigated similar paths. Through transparent communication and mutual support, we learned from one another and will continue to do so as ICRW moves forward on this journey. I encourage more organizations to make the time and space to learn from one another as they experiment with organizational transformation.
• Flexible funding support: None of this would have been possible without the commitment of a few core funders who understood that organizational transformation requires resources. I implore more funders to provide organizations like ICRW with flexible operating support and institutional strengthening funds at this critical moment. Investing in the health and resilience of your partners is one of the best investments you can make in the strength of civil society and the well-being of the communities we serve.

Ultimately, ICRW created a structure that truly reflects our core values:

• Equity: Our new structure replaces hierarchy with collaboration—three independent yet inter-connected entities leading together. Rather than having a global CEO, a global governing board, and global headquarters, we now have three Executive Directors, three regional boards, and a shared platform for coordinating services that serve all offices. Does it make it a little harder to make decisions? Sometimes. But will the decisions we make in this way better serve our communities and fulfill our mission? Definitely.
• Innovation: There is no blueprint for this kind of transformation. Much to my chagrin when I started this journey, there isn’t even a clear menu of organizational models to draw from—although Humentum’s TIME Transformation Lab has created the closest thing our sector has to one. We built our own model. We selected the features that worked from others and designed the ones that didn’t exist, creating a structure that fits who we are and who we are becoming. As a learning organization, ICRW embraces evolution. We experiment and iterate, sharing our lessons about what works—and what doesn’t—with our community.
• Courage: Let’s face it: this kind of change is scary because success is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, ICRW’s board and staff leaned into it with courage and conviction—knowing that we are doing our best to live our values, advance our mission, and honor our commitments to the people we serve.

As I step down from my role as Interim CEO, I am immensely grateful for the brilliance and commitment of ICRW’s board and staff (past and present), and deeply appreciative of the partners and funders who have remained steadfast through turbulent times. I am so proud of ICRW’s 50 years of impact, and I have unbounded confidence in the next 50 years.