The Australian Actress and the Marist Priest

Since its founding in 1965 as the Foundation for the People of the South Pacific (FSP), Counterpart International (Counterpart) prides itself on the ability to empower vulnerable people to implement innovative, holistic and enduring solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges. Its founders, Elizabeth "Betty" Bryant Silverstein and Stanley Hosie, began with the focus of equipping the people of post-World War II South Pacific with the tools and resources to address the needs of their community and ease the post-war devastation.

Betty, an Australian actress, and Stanley, a Marist priest, ran FSP out of a New York City thrift shop, where Betty's film industry friends donated clothing to help raise money for the programs. In the island nations of the South Pacific, FSP provided local institutions with skills to rebuild infrastructure while offering sustainable solutions to poverty. FSP improved the capacity of local organizations and developed a model of international aid that would become generally accepted as the best practices in development. This form of capacity-building continues to be the framework for the work Counterpart does around the world.

In the early 1970's, FSP facilitated the economic growth of local communities when "profit-making" and "business strategies" were hardly commonplace notion among development organizations. In Samoa, FSP took the proverb – "If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime" – seriously; instead of only giving Samoans food, FSP offered tools to expand the fishing industry to increase sustainability and profit for the local fishermen and their communities.

When the Soviet Union fell in early 1991, another opportunity emerged for FSP to develop the capacity of local institutions while building sustainable organizations. What began as a two million dollar niche organization focused on the South Pacific quickly evolved with the new cultural, political and economic global need as Counterpart International.

Now a thriving global network, Counterpart offers sustainable long term development with a staff of over 350 in 25 countries.

45th Anniversary

On January 27th, 2010, Counterpart International celebrated 45 years. In 1965, the organization that would later become Counterpart officially opened its doors for business. Forty-five years later, the organization is still thriving. Check out our interactive timeline.

Photos:

(top) Early FSP programs. © Counterpart International.

(bottom) Stan and Betty in the thrift store in the basement of Carnegie Hall. © Counterpart International.