Creative celebrates 35 years!
Below M. Charito Kruvant (left) and Mimi Tse, Creative Associates International’s founders, celebrating Creative’s 35th year on April 25, 2012. Creative’s unique story began in the 1970s with a group of young women who set up shop in a basement to offer their talents, commitment, hard work and integrity to serve as a positive force in the world. From the beginning, they agreed their enterprise would make a difference in the lives of men and women and especially children around the world. The journey began by bolstering Head Start programs here at home. In 1977, they consolidated their hard work by establishing Creative Associates International. Since then, their efforts include working in some of the world’s most volatile environments and expanding their mission from education to enabling the reintegration of former combatants into mainstream society, fostering public policy that is vested in the democratic process, bolstering able and transparent leadership, among many other activities. Along the way, many lives have been improved, but one critical current that emerges throughout the Creative story is its leadership’s boldness to undertake complex projects that cause others to shy away. They chose to assume risk to compete, grow and thrive. Most importantly, this boldness in leadership has been complemented with good common sense. They built a unique home for dedicated development professionals and brought a perspective that has served our beneficiaries well and made all the difference. Please join us in wishing Creative a Happy Anniversary!
In celebration of its 35th, Creative will hold events in Washington throughout the year to commemorate its anniversary. In March, Creative launched its Center for Women’s Leadership in International Development (CWLID) to support women around the world to realize the positive change they seek by promoting women’s leadership in international development and highlighting the contributions women leaders make to effective and sustainable development. Finding an unmet need for women’s advancement and gender equality in the leadership of development institutions, Creative has seized this opportunity to launch CWLID. The proportion of women in leadership in the field of international development remains low. While women make up 50-80% of the mid and entry level positions, men continue to hold the overwhelming majority of the senior management positions in the industry. CWLID is an initiative of Creative University, the training arm of Creative Associates International.
