When people think about Rise Up Together’s work to advance gender justice, they often picture bold ideas, powerful local leaders, and movements for change that center women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people. What’s less visible – but just as essential – are the people and partnerships that make it possible for this work to happen across borders, every single day.
For over 16 years, we’ve built power with women, girls, and their allies by investing in leadership development, funding solutions rooted in community, and connecting changemakers to a global network. To do this well, our global work has to be grounded – not just in values, but in place. That means building teams who live and work in the communities where change is happening, and supporting them in ways that are fair, ethical, and deeply human.
Alongside our staff in the United States, Rise Up Together works with a global team that spans India, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. These team members bring local knowledge, lived experience, deep relationships with Rise Up Leaders in-country, and long-term commitment to the movements they support.
Rather than operating from a distance, Rise Up Together works through trusted local partner organizations – our Employers of Record (EORs) – who help ensure our global team members are hired, supported, and able to focus on what matters most: championing hundreds of local leaders advancing gender justice.
“Strong programs depend on strong people. Our EOR partners help ensure our global team members are supported, grounded, and able to work closely with local leaders – which ultimately strengthens our impact and allows change to be driven from within communities.”
— Claudia Romeu, Director of Programs at Rise Up Together
Together, several Rise Up Together team members are part of this global network, working in close partnership with six locally rooted organizations:
- NPHD Limited in Nigeria
- SPC Management Services Pvt. Ltd. (SPC) in India
- Juntos, Una Experiencia Compartida A.C. in Mexico
- Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA) in Kenya
- Hlanganisa Community Fund in South Africa
- ADJ Diabetes in Brazil
These key partnerships allow Rise Up Together to stay connected to the realities on the ground – and ensure that our work is shaped by the people and places it exists to serve.
Gender justice doesn’t just happen from afar. It happens through relationships, trust, and people showing up – consistently – in their communities.
Our partner organizations play a quiet but critical role in this work. They help create the conditions for Rise Up Together team members to do their jobs with stability and care, allowing them to focus on supporting local leaders, strengthening our programs, and helping ideas grow into lasting change for millions of people around the world.
This is about more than logistics. It’s about how we show respect for local expertise, and how we build systems that support people – not the other way around.
This post kicks off a new blog series spotlighting the six EORs that make Rise Up Together’s global work possible. In the months ahead, we’ll feature each partner country by country – sharing stories, faces, and the relationships that sit behind the scenes.
Because movements are built by people. And the systems that support those people matter.
Watch this space and follow along as we launch this exciting series.
