We spoke to Pat Scheid as she rounds up her tenure as a program officer in the Global Development and Population Program at Hewlett Foundation after eight years. Before joining the Foundation in 2013, Pat managed teams and portfolio of grants supporting youth employability, education, and leadership development in Africa. She once worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, where she focused on women’s empowerment.
Pat is interested in seeing organizations focused on service delivery connect more to issues around transparency, participation, and accountability (TPA) on a global level. In her words: “There is a lot that practitioners within the TPA field can learn from practitioners in the service-delivery field (and) there is a lot of opportunities to continue that sort of collaboration and dialogue.” Little wonder she emphasized the need for funders and program officers with TPA-related portfolios to “remain open-minded and be willing to learn from grantees and other development partners working in the field.”
As she moved on to her next adventure, we asked Pat what lessons she is taking from her time at the Foundation and what recommendations there are for green and veteran program officers working in the philanthropy sector. Find out from our conversation with Pat, reflecting on three decades of grantmaking experience.
Catch up with Pat on Twitter at @Patscheid and get more update on what Hewlett Foundation is up to on Twitter at @Hewlett_Found
