Globaldev careers: The project partnerships director

Hanna Baldwin is partnerships director with StrongMinds, a social enterprise that treats women with depression in remote communities in Uganda and Zambia using group talk therapy. The organization has already delivered talk therapy to nearly 90,000 women but wants to ensure that all 66 million women in Africa with depression have access to treatment. Baldwin is responsible for executing this replication strategy through identifying, cultivating, and developing strategic partnerships with NGOs and public sector partners to expand project reach across multiple countries. Devex finds out what skills and experience can be useful for working in partnership-focused roles. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What does your day-to-day look like? Currently, I am researching, preparing for, and having Zoom discussions with new potential partners about collaboration opportunities. I introduce each potential partner to StrongMinds' approach and share how we could help their organization better reach its targets by integrating our mental health services into their existing activities. I also prepare, write, and review documents for collaboration and assist the StrongMinds country teams in Uganda and Zambia with their partnership work. Finally, I help the [organizations] global technical staff and consultants to adapt and revise our existing partnership tools and documents. “Consider your partner’s priorities and if your approach and goals will align to achieve more impactful results.” --— Hanna Baldwin, partnerships director, StrongMinds How did you end up in this role? I have been in Uganda for 12 years and have followed the growth of StrongMinds since the beginning. When the director of partnerships role opened up, it fit perfectly with my background and the kind of work I wanted to do. I had previously managed on-the-ground project implementation and partnership proposals for other organizations. I have been thrilled with the organization and the role. I love that the position is external facing, strategic, and very practical — I can see the benefits to partners and their clients from the work we do together in each community. What are the biggest challenges of the job? The main challenge is the limited attention to and funding for mental health interventions from large bilateral donors. Organizations doing grassroots work recognize the need for mental health services, and this has only continued to heighten during the last year with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen some progress in the right direction. I hope that, as more data becomes available about the impact of mental health in the regions where we work, we will see additional funding resources committed to this critical work. How have you seen things shift in the last year? The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly reduced the stigma on mental health. It is now acceptable to say, even in professional settings, that one is not feeling okay; that life is challenging to manage. The same shift has happened with many organizations — both in implementation and at the policy levels. There is now a better understanding of the mental stress this past year has caused, especially for the most impoverished and vulnerable populations. I hope that this will translate into better access to mental health care and additional resources allocated to mental health programs and services in sub-Saharan Africa. How do you see the impact of your work? StrongMinds works through partners to layer mental health services into existing livelihood, food security, health care, and education programs in order to scale our reach and enhance outcomes for program participants. The impact of my role is seen through the expanded number of women we can help. With just our immediate staff delivering services, we can reach capacity fairly quickly. But with partner organizations involved, the possibilities are endless. What skills have you focused on building to progress in your career? I love learning new things in my field, and I always try to understand how processes work, why people behave the way they do, and what evidence best illustrates mental health approaches and interventions. I have been less focused on building a career and more focused on projects that interest, inspire, and challenge me. I have lived most of my life outside my home country of Finland and have learned that various types of individual experiences depend on the culture and geographic region. Learning to listen and trying to understand these key differences has helped me most with partnership work. What advice would you have for other professionals looking to work in this type of role? Know your organization and mission well. Listen to and get to know other organizations and find the best ways to work together. Have patience. Consider your partner’s priorities and if your approach and goals will align to achieve more impactful results.