For Conservation International, partnerships are key to its success

By Daphne Davies 14 September 2015

Man tends to coffee crops in Chiapas, Mexico. Conservation International has partnered with Starbucks to produce ethically-sourced coffee. Photo by: Miguel Angel de la Cueva / Conservation International

For Jennifer Morris, chief operating officer of environmental nonprofit Conservation International, there are two reasons her organization has been able to continue to grow for nearly three decades, forming successful partnerships with different stakeholders along the way.

“One of the key reasons for our continued growth is our emphasis on measuring performance,” Morris told Devex. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t determine the return on investment. So we aim to be very specific about our impact.”

This also reassures donors, which can quantify what their donation has achieved.

The second reason, according to Morris, is being able to guarantee long-term finance, as introducing measures to protect the environment takes time. It uses long-term grants, such as those from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation — the foundation set up by Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty — to support cash-strapped governments and local organizations and put long-term protection measures in place in over 30 countries.

This article is for Devex Members

For full access to the content of the article sign in or join Devex.

About the author

Daphne Davies

Daphne Davies is a London-based freelance journalist and consultant with more than 30 years' experience in international development. She has worked with the U.N., the European Union, national governments and global civil society organizations, including Amnesty, WWF and LDC Watch. Her expertise is in monitoring government policies in relation to international cooperation. Her interests are in sustainability, social and economic matters, women and least developed countries.