My Story

Intro

Cambodia has an unusually large NGO community; often grassroots NGOs struggle to live up to their full potential due to lack of resources, expertise and governmental oversight. Allison founded the Pari Project to aid NGOs in improving access to financial resources, whilst providing an incentive to implement good governance practices through smart donor dollars.

About Me

I was raised in Lake Forest, Illinois and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in International Relations and Political Science. I moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia at the age of twenty-one to work for the Cambodian Children’s Fund, an NGO that provides educational and vocational training opportunities to disadvantaged youth.

I pursued work in public relations and fund raising in Chicago and Auckland, NZ but decided to return to Cambodia on holiday in 2007. It was while visiting an array of grassroots NGOs that a lack of proper program development/management became apparent, although these factors did not appear to affect the flow of aid monies. Many projects were caring for children, which made the absence of effective systems, policies and procedures all the more worrisome.

Thus the idea for Pari was born. Today, Pari provides an array of fund raising, marketing and organizational development services. Our Development Team works in conjunction with a Design Team to meet all client needs; the overall goal is to ‘professionalize’ client services, thus establishing accountability, transparency and efficiency within each client’s organization.

My Venture

The Pari Project is a social enterprise that opens up to its client organizations a myriad of resources, and we seek to significantly increase the operational capacities of those organizations we serve. Pari adopts a two-pronged approach that combines highly sought-after fundraising services whilst striving to improve the overall transparency, accountability and efficiency of its client organizations through delivery of marketing and organizational development services.

Pari operates on the assumption that the majority of NGOs are not living up to their full potential due to the lack of awareness and incentive. To this extent, Pari looks to incentivize difficult but highly positive organizational change through its fund raising services and improved access to donor dollars. Pari believes in each organization we serve, and the power they have to change the lives of the most vulnerable here in Cambodia.

Pari currently manages fifteen client accounts, and supports a staff of eight. The real work is just beginning, however, as Pari attempts to expand its reach within Cambodia whilst providing clients with the highest quality services available.