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Graham Wood appointed Pact chief global program officer

October 1, 2014

Graham Wood, who first served Pact as country director of Sudan and later as vice president of Africa programs then worldwide program advancement, has been named the international NGO’s first chief global program officer.

Pact president and CEO Mark Viso made the announcement today to Pact staff in 26 countries.

“Graham’s work on the ground and leadership reflect both his and Pact’s desire to build local promise and measurably transform lives where we work,” Viso said. “In his new position, Graham will help make Pact the transformational organization we seek to be, in both the international development space and in communities around the world.”

For the past 4½ years, Wood led Pact’s program advancement function, which focuses on the quality, technical depth and effectiveness of Pact’s integrated programming. His team included experts in livelihoods, governance, health, capacity development, natural resources management, food security and markets. He also served on Pact’s leadership council, helping guide the 43-year-old NGO through a 2010 restructuring and 2012 rebranding. Recently, Wood launched Locus: The Point of International Development, a consortium of international actors advocating a holistic approach to development and seeking to change the way international aid is funded.

Wood joined Pact in 2008 as country director of Sudan, growing operations sixfold in little more than a year. In 2009, he was appointed vice president of Pact’s sprawling Africa operations.

A British national posted at Pact’s regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, Wood will relocate to Pact’s Washington, D.C., headquarters in early 2015.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve Pact’s mission in this new role and to play a part in an organization focused on making a real difference in the world,” Wood said.

A new position at Pact, the chief global programs officer oversees all program, technical and knowledge management efforts at the organization. Wood began his international development in Khartoum in 1987. He earned a master’s degree in nationalism and ethnic conflict from the University of London and a bachelor’s degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford.

Pact is a top 10 implementing organization for the U.S. Agency of International Development and serves several other national aid agencies as well as The Global Fund, private funders such as the Gates Foundation and The Coca-Cola Foundation, and corporations including Chevron.

 

About Pact – Pact is a promise of a better tomorrow for all those who are poor and marginalized. Working in partnership to develop local solutions that enable people to own their own future, Pact helps people and communities build their own capacity to generate income, improve access to quality health services, and gain lasting benefit from the sustainable use of the natural resources around them. At work in nearly 30 countries, Pact is building local promise with an integrated, adaptive approach that is shaping the future of international development. www.pactworld.org