A Letter from BNID’s New Director, Jon Shaffer

Dear friends,

The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) is in a
transitional phase full of opportunity. BNID’s
founder, Adam Korn, and a remarkable
team of volunteers have built a powerful platform to support the Boston international
development community. From here, we hope to grow our service to the
international development community in Boston through expanded community
building programs, in-person events, and workshops.

The current administration has signaled
opposition to crucial investments in development assistance and positive
international engagement. However, for these reasons, it more important
than ever to come together as a community that is committed to global
justice. I feel honored to be stepping in as the next Executive
Director for BNID and will do everything I can to grow our collective
capacity.

My vision is simple: to build off of the successful
BNID website and newsletter platform that has been created by Adam and the
team, and to organize year-long in-person programming that is valuable for
the international development community. The purpose of these events programs
would be to bring together individuals from different spheres of the
international development community. I believe that we will be a more powerful
and resilient community as a result.

I’m excited to hear from you as well! As we
start our planning phase this spring and summer, I’d love to hear from you with
your ideas, suggestions, or critiques. Please email me at jon@bnid.org. I
want to hear from you so even if you take a few minutes to craft an email and
introduce yourself, I would be very grateful. Furthermore, I am happy to meet
you for coffee or speak to you over the phone.

Thank you for all that you do to serve and
improve the lives of people around the world.

Onward,

Jon Shaffer