Cross-Cultural Leadership With Gretchen Villegas

Eye of Power Podcast

Tom speaks with Gretchen Villegas about her extensive experience in leading global nonprofit organizations across diverse cultural contexts. They discuss her insights into cultural challenges and her visual diagram tool for understanding organizational intersections and value exchange. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of being present, offering support, active listening, and thought partnership to drive progress.

A Bit About Gretchen:

Gretchen Villegas is a seasoned executive leader with over 25 years of experience specializing in mission-driven, innovative program designs through partnership development, impact scaling, and revenue growth. She has managed international country programs in vulnerable communities, with a portfolio totaling over $320 million funded by both public and private donors.

Gretchen's early experience includes serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South America and a 15-year career managing USG-funded programs in Latin America and Africa. She has worked in partnership with communities, local and international private sector partners, philanthropists, impact investors, and governments to find sustainable solutions to poverty, enabling marginalized households to achieve a resilient, dignified life.

Her expertise encompasses executive-level leadership of global program portfolio effectiveness through evidence and data, intentional program design to optimize impacts for vulnerable children and their families, rigorous research to learn and adapt in program implementation, and revenue strategies to scale and enhance the reach of programmatic initiatives.