For Immediate Release Contact: Samuel Connors, Program Assistant U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council 202-957-9298

US OCDC Launches New Champion Award at NCBA CLUSA’s IMPACT Conference in Virginia. Arlington, Virginia (October 4, 2019) – OCDC and the International Cooperative Research Group are pleased to announce the introduction of a new award, the International Champion Award. This award is a high honor that is bestowed to recognize outstanding contributions to international cooperative development. The International Champion Award will henceforth be given annually by OCDC, representing its member organizations, to an individual or individuals who champion, advocate, and promote effective, sustainable international cooperative development in a remarkable way. It is the first of its kind to focus criteria on international cooperative development.

Criteria for such an award requires showcasing the best of the best in international cooperative development, seeking recipients who have had far-reaching impact through, among other ways, their:

• statesmanship, demonstrated through extraordinary personal commitment, leadership and vision.
• achievements in improving and promoting international cooperative development.
• impact in inspiring and advancing cooperative systems in developing countries and emerging economies.

The inaugural recipient of this award is Tom Carter, former manager of the Cooperative Development Program at USAID, where his strong and ethical commitment to locally led development is well known. Tom has committed his life to international cooperative development, with particularly noteworthy work for dairy cooperatives in India. This initiative has seen millions of grassroots milk producers achieve better life outcomes for themselves and their families, playing a critical role as India itself became the world’s largest milk-producing nation.

Tom’s aspiration and vision for international cooperative development was a driving force behind many practices we find commonplace today – such as evidence-based programming, objective measurement of outcomes, the critical role of data to the cooperative narrative and so to policy change, the bedrock importance of nurturing and prioritizing community and collaboration that uniquely characterize the cooperative development community. We know from OCDC’s legacy studies as well as other evidence that the work of CDOs has had measurable and lasting impact on the ground. Tom’s vision and leadership played a critical role in these outcomes.

OCDC and the RG thank Tom for his steadfast commitment to international cooperative development and look forward to recognizing the many deserving champions who embody the spirit of this new award. Photos from the event can be found here. For more on this event, read OCDC’s blog post.

About OCDC
OCDC brings together organizations committed to building a more prosperous world through cooperatives. Its mission is to champion, advocate and promote effective international cooperative development. OCDC members are global leaders in cooperative development in Africa, Latin America and Asia. With projects in over 70 counties, OCDC members implement the largest portfolio of cooperative development programs in the world. Members are: Equal Exchange, GENEX, Global Communities, HealthPartners, Land O’Lakes Venture 37, National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International, NRECA International and the World Council of Credit Unions.

International Cooperative Research Group
The International Cooperative Research Group is a division within OCDC that conducts academically rigorous research to support and enhance cooperative development, develops application tools, and facilitates learning amongst its member cooperative development organizations, other cooperatives and the international development community. This research is supported by the Cooperative Development Program from USAID.

###