An Approach to Ending Poverty That Works

In August 2014, I participated in BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra Poor Immersion Visit which offered a unique, hands-on experience inside of BRAC’s Bangladesh operations. I learned about BRAC’s “graduation” approach, which provides people with a host of services and benefits to move them out of ultra-poverty and eventually into sustainable livelihoods.

As a practitioner, I see the immersion visit as essential for any organization or policy maker who is exploring or implementing a graduation model—as we are at Nuru International. It is all too rare to find an organization of BRAC’s scale that is still is able to focus on each individual client’s experience and pathway out of ultra-poverty. They achieve a local feel with a global reach.

Learn more about BRAC’s “graduation” approach in An Approach to Ending Poverty That Works by Susan Davis (HBR.org).

About Aerie Changala

Chief Executive Officer — Aerie earned his BA in International Affairs from John Cabot University (Rome, Italy) and his MA in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent (Canterbury, UK). He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Burkina Faso. Aerie has been part of Nuru’s leadership since Nuru’s earliest days. Aerie initially served as Nuru’s second Team Leader in Kenya (following Jake) and has since led scouting, launching and designing of Nuru’s projects. Having spent the majority of his adult life living throughout Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, Aerie has traveled extensively, speaks seven languages, and brings a global perspective to his work at Nuru.