He was leading a nascent group called Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO), which had been established only three years prior, employed a full-time staff of three, and had no prior experience with global partnerships. Eticha, who grew up in poverty in Ethiopia and went on to earn a master’s degree in development studies, was referred to a team led by Kathryn Whetten, Ph.D., a Duke professor who directs the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research in the Duke Global Health Institute. “Our partnership with Duke University grounded our organization administratively, managerially, and in project implementation capacity,” says Eticha, SVO’s founder and executive director.