Working Groups

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Afghanistan context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

The Basic Education Coalition is an independent, nonprofit advocacy organization working to ensure that all children around the world have access to quality basic education. The Coalition works to influence Congress and the Administration to enhance the effectiveness of education programs. A separate Membership fee paid to BEC is required for participation in the organization’s activities.

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Caribbean context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

The Children and Youth Working Group meets monthly and aims to bridge sectoral divides and elevate children and youth within InterAction’s existing sector working groups. By employing the Whole Child Development approach, this group advocates for U.S. government programs, policies, and funding that are integrated, cross-sectoral, and support children and youth throughout all life stages.

Staff Contact

Ben Bestor

Program Manager

The Climate Advocacy Working Group provides Members with networked learning and collective action opportunities to advocate for U.S. and multilateral policies, approaches, and resources to decelerate climate change and support the world’s most vulnerable to adapt to its effects. This monthly working group is one of three convening spaces supporting Members to implement InterAction’s NGO Climate Compact.

Staff Contact

Claudia Sanchez de Lozada

Senior Manager, Climate and Environment

The ad hoc Climate Mainstreaming Working Group supports Members during their climate change education and highlights opportunities and risks associated with climate change in development and humanitarian programming. This is one of three convening spaces supporting Members’ implementation of InterAction’s NGO Climate Compact. 

Staff Contact

Claudia Sanchez de Lozada

Senior Manager, Climate and Environment

A  space for the most senior-level communications staff person to network, brainstorm, and collaborate. This group also pulls together common messaging and activities around key development and humanitarian issues and campaigns affecting the InterAction community, including conflict and natural disasters.

To sign-up for this working group, please email Morgan Martinez, InterAction’s Senior Director of Communications and Public Engagement, by clicking the “Join” button below. All emails must come from a Member organization email address.

Staff Contact

Morgan Martinez

Vice President, Communications, Membership, and Public Engagement

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the DRC context.

Staff Contact

Cecilia Thiam

Director, Humanitarian Practice

The monthly Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Working Group tracks the International Development Finance Corporation and advocates for prioritizing sustainable development in U.S. development finance toward U.S. Congress and the Administration.

Staff Contact

The Disability Listserv promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities as a human rights issue and a critical component of effective development.

Staff Contact

Carolyn J. Aeby

Chief Operating Officer

The ad hoc Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Working Group provides a forum to share practical international experiences and knowledge and works to improve coordination and raise risk reduction on the international policy and programming agenda. This group is open to InterAction Members and partner organizations.

Staff Contact

Mohamed Hilmi

Director, Shelter and Settlements

The Environmental Sustainability Working Group provides networked learning opportunities for Members to measure their carbon footprint, chart a course for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and maintain organizational commitment to sustainability. This monthly working group is one of three convening spaces supporting Members to implement InterAction’s NGO Climate Compact.

Staff Contact

Claudia Sanchez de Lozada

Senior Manager, Climate and Environment

This Community of Practice builds the capacity of Members to measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of their work and promotes the exchange of information on tools, resources, best practices, and experiences on monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning, and research.

Staff Contact

Ben Bestor

Program Manager

The Food Security, Nutrition, and Agriculture Working Group is an active NGO community and learning space for InterAction Members to share best practices, current challenges, and recent research. This working group seeks to support and strengthen U.S. NGOs that are actively implementing or advocating for programs in international agricultural development, nutrition, and global food security. This group meets monthly to focus on engagement with Congress and the Administration to ensure that U.S. investments in global food security and nutrition programs remain effective, funded at appropriate levels to reach those in need, and fit to purpose to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Staff Contact

Claudia Sanchez de Lozada

Senior Manager, Climate and Environment

The Forced Displacement Working Group (FDWG) aims to strengthen and inform the humanitarian response to issues of forced displacement through INGO engagement with key stakeholders and provides a space to develop collective INGO positioning. The working group meets monthly.

Staff Contact

Rose Worden

Program Manager, Policy

The Fragility Listserv offers Members periodic updates on policy and programmatic issues on the challenges of transforming unstable, conflict-affected societies into resilient ones. It focuses on themes of peacebuilding, violence prevention, and operating in fragile contexts.

Staff Contact

The From Pledge to Action (FP2A) Listserv is designed to share events held by Members or the community on enhancing safeguarding and the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH), to convene the group on the issue when requested by external donors and partners, and to mobilize our Members when InterAction needs to engage on an urgent issue.

The G7/G20 Advocacy Alliance is a group of InterAction Members and allies who work together to influence the annual G7 and G20 summits. Each year, the alliance organizes policy teams around specific issues and develops recommendations for G7 and G20 policy papers. Policy papers are used to brief the White House, USAID, and the Department of State, among others.

Staff Contact

Ben Bestor

Program Manager

This Community of Practice (CoP) is for practitioners who are piloting the GBV PEF. InterAction Members and non-Members are invited to apply to join. The CoP serves as a space for CoP Members to connect with other practitioners using the GBV PEF across diverse contexts and to learn from each other’s expertise and experiences. Interested staff must apply using the below form.

For the application in French, click HERE. For Spanish, click HERE. For Arabic, click HERE.

Staff Contact

The Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Working Group provides a collective voice to advance the GBV programming and policy concerns of InterAction Member organizations engaged in humanitarian and conflict programs. The working group meets monthly.

Staff Contact

Caroline Zullo

Senior Program Manager, Protection

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Great Lakes region. 

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Horn of Africa region.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

Building on previous work on innovative finance for development practice, this distribution list circulates updates on opportunities for engagement among InterAction Members.

Staff Contact

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Coordination Listserv provides updates on IASC activities.

Staff Contact

Rose Worden

Program Manager, Policy

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Iraq context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for Jordan/Lebanon.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

This working group meets monthly to discuss Latin America regional response and related advocacy.

Staff Contact

Acacia Niyogi

Program Associate, Practice

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Myanmar/Bangladesh context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

InterAction’s NGO Futures initiative brings together CEOs and other executive leaders to explore the role of U.S.-based NGOs. The mission of NGO Futures is to revolutionize NGOs’ ability to adapt to change and shape a thriving global future. This new initiative offers workshops, trainings, and retreats to create a platform for exploration to occur.

Staff Contact

Deborah Willig

Director, NGO Futures

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Nigeria/Lake Chad Basin region.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

This working group meets on an ad hoc basis to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Pakistan context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

The Public Policy Committee Budget and Appropriations Subcommittee provides a venue for Members to engage with the annual appropriations process and learn about U.S. government budget issues. This working group meets twice a month.

Staff Contact

Justin Tang

Program Associate, Government Relations

The monthly Protection Working Group advances the protection programming and policy concerns of InterAction Member organizations. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of Members to identify and respond to protection challenges in the field and at the headquarters level. 

Staff Contact

Caroline Zullo

Senior Program Manager, Protection

The Public Policy Committee (PPC) provides a venue for Members to come together to share information and coordinate joint advocacy work focused on U.S. government policymakers in Congress and the executive branch. This group meets monthly.

Staff Contact

Justin Tang

Program Associate, Government Relations

The Results-Based Protection Program gathers experts working to identify, review, and document key elements that support results-based approaches to protection programming.

Staff Contact

Jessica Lenz

Senior Technical Advisor, Protection

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Sahel region.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

The Security Listserv is open to Member staff whose responsibilities include the safety and security of their staff as a means to share relevant information on current issues. Ad hoc security-focused meetings are occasionally scheduled and based on Member needs.

Staff Contact

The Shelter and Settlements Working Group (SSWG) focuses on improving the collaboration, capacity, policy, and practice of organizations involved in the humanitarian shelter and settlement sector. It serves as a link to their global efforts with the intent of increasing the contribution and impact of humanitarian assistance. This working group meets monthly.

Staff Contact

Mohamed Hilmi

Director, Shelter and Settlements

InterAction’s Social Media listserv shares social media campaign toolkits, news, and best practices. 

Staff Contact

This working group meets quarterly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the South Sudan/Sudan context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

InterAction’s Strengthening Partnerships listserv provides information that facilitates greater cooperation between the U.S. government and NGOs. Its goal is to provide better program designs, increase efficiency, and engage policymakers and legislators in their efforts to increase the impact of U.S. foreign assistance.

Staff Contact

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Syria context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

The new UN Partnership Working Group provides a platform for InterAction members to dialogue, share information, and advance organizational interests within operational and thematic partnership initiatives with UN agencies, especially WFP and UNHCR. This working group meets bimonthly, with ad hoc meetings scheduled as needed.

Staff Contact

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Ukraine regional response.

Staff Contact

The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Working Group seeks to improve U.S. government policies related to WASH issues to increase sustainable access to these basic services in the developing world, improve the integration of WASH across development sectors, and prioritize service access to communities most in need.

Staff Contact

Kelsey Maddox

Coordinator, Government Relations

This working group meets quarterly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the West Bank/Gaza region.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice

This working group meets monthly to share information, discuss operational concerns, and coordinate advocacy efforts for the Yemen context.

Staff Contact

Mais Balkhi

Program Advisor, Practice