(Washington, D.C.) Judith Hermanson, international nonprofit executive, author and educator, has been selected to head the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council’s (OCDC) International Cooperative Research Group.

The focus of OCDC and its members is to lift people in developing countries from poverty through income development, food security and democracy building. As part of this ongoing work, OCDC established the Research Group to build upon, expand and broaden ongoing research activities to meet the needs of the international cooperative development community.

“Judith brings excellent credentials, as well as energy, vision and excitement to the Research Group,” says Paul Hazen, OCDC executive director. “We’re delighted that she’ll be focusing her talents on building on the foundation established by our members and taking the Research Group to the next level.”

“The potential impact research can have on the design and direction of international cooperative development is very exciting,” Hermanson says. “I’m looking forward to launching the Research Group’s ambitious initiative that will examine the effect co-ops worldwide have on the social and economic well-being of their members.”

The vision of the Research Group is to:

• Establish, over the next 10 years, a far-reaching network of partnerships with organizations and individuals who already are engaged in cooperative development research,
• Search for the institutional, regulatory, economic and other factors of cooperative success, as well as create more rigorous measurements of the impacts cooperative enterprises make on the lives of their members and communities, and
• Bring together donors, policymakers, social scientists and policy leaders to use research results to strengthen the enabling environment and support for cooperative development.

About Judith Hermanson
With over 30 years’ international experience in housing and urban development, civic engagement and organizational management, Judith Hermanson has held key leadership roles in two of the largest U.S.-based nonprofits working internationally.

She currently serves as president and CEO of IHC Global, formerly the International Housing Coalition, in addition to her new role as head of the Research Group.

Prior to joining IHC Global, Hermanson was deputy executive director and COO of the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), where she managed headquarters and field operations in Latin America and Caribbean. Hermanson also has served as executive vice president of Global Communities (GC), currently an OCDC member.

Between her work at GC and PADF, she was a tenured professor of public administration at Northern Illinois University, where she also was inaugural director of the NGOLD Center, a degree-granting, interdisciplinary center for the study of nonprofits and civic engagement.

Hermanson graduated magna cum laude from Smith College and received her MA and PhD from The George Washington University. She also received an honorary doctorate from the American University of Paris in 2014 for her services to international education and development.