BRAC USA’s new chief wants to make the NGO a household name

Oxfam, the Red Cross, UNICEF — these organizations are household names around the world. For incoming CEO of BRAC USA, Julia Roberts, adding BRAC to that list — and increasing its renown as the “world’s largest NGO” — is one of her top priorities. Headquartered in Bangladesh, BRAC was founded in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, and it focuses on alleviating poverty. Over the last 50 years it has reached more than 100 million people. BRAC USA contributes to BRAC International by raising awareness and mobilizing resources to support its programs. The reason the NGO as a whole hasn’t become well-known among the general public, according to Roberts, is that it has been “out getting the work done.” But promoting its reputation, she believes, is important as the organization works to foster new partnerships amid rising global poverty and polycrisis. Roberts, who holds a master’s degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and is a chartered adviser of philanthropy, transitions into the role from her position as vice president of global fundraising and communications at Population Services International, or PSI. She replaces Donella Rapier, who retired earlier this year. “BRAC has proven ways in which you provide solutions and tools for people to lift themselves out of poverty, not just for today, but for tomorrow, for their family, and for the future.” --— Julia Roberts, CEO, BRAC USA Sitting down with Devex in the week prior to formally taking up the position, Roberts, from her home on the West coast of the United States, shared her plans for making BRAC USA a household name, why it matters now, and how she’ll be approaching the role. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What’s your plan for making more people aware of BRAC? There isn't going to be a single solution for it. I definitely have to step into this role and learn. BRAC USA’s priorities are BRAC global's priorities. I need to spend more time both listening and learning about what those priorities are, what that looks like, what scale looks like, and how we can find partnerships or funding that will be directly complementary to the priorities of BRAC global. That could take different shapes. BRAC USA has current strategies that are effective. We want to add to those. What are ways that we can use media or social or different types of communication at the household level and amplify the name through partnership, through presentations? Is there something about this current period in time that makes you feel that it's important for BRAC to become more synonymous with poverty alleviation? Whilst there's polycrisis in the world, I think it's exciting because there's both this enormous problem and an enormous solution that can match it. BRAC has proven ways in which you provide solutions and tools for people to lift themselves out of poverty, not just for today, but for tomorrow, for their family, and for the future. It's an exciting opportunity because there's more giving than there has been before. … Globally, there's a movement of partnerships. There's so many tail winds that are pushing us in the right direction. At the same time, there are obviously headwinds. … We're coming off of some of the meetings looking at the debt rate ratios of countries, humanitarian crises, climate crises, [and] political crises. Those are all challenges. It's not something unique to BRAC, but it's the sector. With that in mind, are there any changes you’re planning to make at the organizational level? It will be more about identifying additionality. … From what we know of [BRAC’s] history and its inception, it changes to meet the needs of the consumer, so BRAC will always be changing [and] evolving. … There's no preset change, I would say, that I'm coming in with, but it's a mindset of where do we want to continue to evolve and how can I contribute to that? How do you think your experience working elsewhere in the sector will shape your approach and the priorities you identify at BRAC? There's a lot of synergies between what PSI does and what BRAC does. There's a nexus between the use of social enterprise and philanthropy and subsidy, and also just income generation. … There are different approaches that PSI has taken in demand creation or through the use of digital technology or innovation, albeit in the space of public health and focusing on women and girls. There are aspects of that demand generation, through linking philanthropy with an enterprise approach, that I would like to build on at BRAC. BRAC already has them as a foundation, but I want to be able to spend time and see if there are other ways we can look at things. I bring to this role 25 years of development experience. [I’ve] lived overseas, worked overseas, worked in a lot of the same countries, understanding some of the context [and] parameters of context. I want to bring that to the fore, which also means different partnerships, different people [and] local [and regional] institutions I've worked with. Do you envisage the U.S. election having any bearing on BRAC USA’s work? We're definitely focused on our partnership with the U.S. government; it's a key partner. We obviously share the priorities of [USAID Administrator] Samantha Power and others that are looking at the focus on community-led organizations, locally-led solutions, and we think of BRAC as part of that. We will continue to want to engage and work with the U.S. government, but that's across administrations. When we look at the priorities of the U.S. government from a development context, they continue to have a focus on health, education, and economic development. We definitely work at the level of execution … and above the level of political engagement.