6th November 2019
LONDON — Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health have acquired Charlie Goldsmith Associates (CGA), a U.K.-based company that develops and applies context-suitable technology to meet the needs of the world’s poorest communities.
CGA will operate autonomously but will draw on additional management and leadership, said Daniel Speckhard, President and CEO of recently merged Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health.
“International development is undergoing a technology revolution,” said Speckhard, the subsidiary’s new Board Chair. “And CGA’s global staff of experts are leading the charge.”
CGA’s staff of more than 50 will continue projects in fragile and emerging countries such as South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Malawi. They specialize in developing practical management systems for governments and supporting organizations to deliver basic services more effectively with disaggregate and near-real-time accountability, transparency and results data.
Their technology facilitates cash transfers for education, health and social protection; tracks school attendance and health records; and supports government ministries with payroll and Human Resource systems. They also train civil servants and others to effectively use and maintain those systems.
CGA clients and partners have included the U.K.’s Department for International Development (DFID), the European Union (EU), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, UNICEF, and international NGOs and governments. In South Sudan, its work with DFID, the EU, and the country’s government helped to more than double school enrollment in five years.
Serving on the board with Speckhard will be Joseph Carlin, a retired Boeing Company executive and philanthropist, as vice chair. Carlin, who successfully led a technology start-up, was responsible at Boeing for overseeing the successful integration of technology acquisitions and is currently, in his private capacity, supporting a range of early state technology companies in the U.S. and U.K. Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health will also be seating a CFO in CGA’s management structure.
Charlie Goldsmith, who founded the company as a spin-off of a global consulting firm in 2011, noted the beginning of a new era. “We look forward to offering better and expanded services, in more places, to help more people as well as to lending our technology expertise to Lutheran World Relief’s and IMA World Health’s programming as opportunities arise,” he said.
CGA’s work has been recognized by DFID, which in 2016 gave the firm its “commercial high recognition” award for youth and social mobility work and recently appointed the firm as one of four organizations on its Education Framework for assignments up to 3 million GBP. Trade association British Expertise named the company its “International Small and Medium Sized Enterprise of the Year” in 2014.
Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health lead a family of world-changing entities that include Ground Up Investing LLC, IMA Innovations and LWR Farmers Market Coffee.
About Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health:
Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health have joined forces to increase our impact on breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting healthier families and communities. The two international humanitarian nonprofits are integrating Lutheran World Relief’s work in rural economies and emergency response and IMA World Health’s global health expertise, creating a unified organization that will help millions more enjoy a healthier, more prosperous tomorrow.