Nearly all international NGOs working in global health and development are grappling with what the sector’s shift toward “localization” and “decolonization” means for them. At Pathfinder International, an influential reproductive health organization based in the United States, answering that question has not been easy.
Devex Senior Reporter Michael Igoe gives an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how Pathfinder — under CEO Lois Quam — has undertaken a tumultuous transformation that the organization’s leaders say is about “shifting power,” but which former staff described as a self-destructive power grab.
Pathfinder’s current moment has been further complicated by a contentious process to examine the organization’s historic ties to the racist ideology of eugenics, which ultimately led to a break with its founding family, heirs to the Procter & Gamble fortune.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
