International Nonprofit CHF International Unveils New Identity

International Nonprofit CHF International Unveils New Identity as Global Communities, Partners for Good

President and CEO David Weiss:  “Development is not something we do for people; it is something we do with them. We believe that the people who understand their needs best are the people of the community itself.” 
Silver Spring, MD – (October 15, 2012) This year marks the 60th anniversary of CHF International, originally known as the Cooperative Housing Foundation.  On this anniversary, and to mark a new chapter in the organization’s history, CHF today unveils a new brand identity, under the name Global Communities. 
“Global Communities better reflects who we are and what we do.  It captures our values and our heritage by focusing on how we have approached our mission for sixty years— by partnering with communities around the globe to give them the tools they need to sustainably improve their own lives and livelihoods.  Our tagline, Partners for Good, reflects the single organizing principle of our organization: creating enduring partnerships with communities, the private sector, government and other organizations to foment positive, permanent change in the lives of the vulnerable,” says David A. Weiss, President and CEO of Global Communities.
CHF International started as a domestic US housing organization in 1952, then in the 1960s began to work internationally in housing, including as a pioneer of housing microfinance. By the 1990s, CHF worked entirely internationally. The new name reflects many changes in the organization.  Housing is a very small part of its work; over the last few years, the organization has developed a strong focus on innovation, building new partnerships, and implementing pioneering programs in, for example, urban disaster response, youth leadership and SME lending, and in partnership with the private sector. It has most recently won awards for projects in climate change adaptation and working with LGBT communities in Honduras and for transparency in its microfinance networks in the Middle East – all the time keeping the relationship with the community as its focus.
“We live in times of significant change and volatility. But Global Communities’ core approach, practiced and proven over sixty years, enables us to create the right partnerships to ensure that we can meet the needs of an evolving world. By bringing together the private sector, NGOs, government and community partners, we are collectively building self-sufficiency, progress and prosperity in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions,” says Chairman of the Global Communities Board of Trustees, Robert A. Mosbacher, Jr.
Global Communities works in close partnership with communities, governments, the private sector and local organizations in more than 20 countries around the world, and has worked in more than 80 countries since its inception. The organization will continue doing business as both Global Communities and CHF International as it rolls out its new identity around the world, a transition expected to take around two years.