053. Change is not a project: Hazem Fahmy on CARE Egypt’s Country Office transition towards full membership

Summary

A number of NGOs have aimed to strengthen their global legitimacy by adding more global South members/affiliates. Is this truly a valuable strategy? Does it help with legitimacy to be more 'globally balanced'? What are the hard lessons learned about how to manage this process? And how do local civil society as well as government respond?

 Hazem Fahmy, the CEO of the CARE Egypt Foundation and former Country Director of CARE USA-line managed Egypt Country Office, is an excellent source of wisdom on all of this. He, together with his senior leadership and with other 'change champions' in his broader team and in CARE globally, shepherded CARE Egypt's transition into full membership.

What does Hazem consider the most interesting or rewarding about the ‘art and science’ of change leadership?

Equally, what is the most difficult or frustrating about this experience with change management and leadership?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Hazem Fahmy, CEO of CARE Egypt Foundation, on CARE Egypt’s Country Office transition towards full membership. 

Hazem’s Bio:

• CEO of the CARE Egypt Foundation
• Country Director for CARE Egypt Country Office
• Worked at CARE Egypt for 19 years
• PhD from New Mexico University in Water Resources

We discuss: 

• CARE USA had overseen the CARE Egypt Country Office for almost 60 years before it transitioned to full CARE membership (with a voice in global governance)
• These kinds of transformations should not be seen as a project but as a change journey
• The addition of global South members to CARE’s confederation means that new topics have been introduced within CARE: it has changed the organization’s discourse on what matters
• How the new global South  members demanded that global North members too should live up to the same  standards that are expected of them 
• Organizational change processes like this always take longer than expected, but that is acceptable– it's about living up to the intention of change, not about project deadlines
• Hazem finds it rewarding to hear people who used to be doubtful about this strategic direction now applaud what has been achieved
• One cannot be overfocused on keeping staff comfortable by saying that most things will not change
• Egyptian civil society largely accepts the CARE Egypt Foundation as part of its own, while Government has started to involve it more in consultative roundtables - so the transition to full membership has helped with local credibility.

 Quotes:

“Change management means navigating a lot of ambiguity, it is a discovery process; change is not a project”

“Don’t leave influential people behind”

“I am not denying there is a privilege in being tied to the CARE mothership”

Resources:

Hazem’s LinkedIn profile

Hazem’s Email

Website of Care Egypt Foundation

Hazem’s blog:

Youtube video of this podcast

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