A new report is capturing how the biggest players in global development and humanitarian response work with local groups and subcontractors, based on survey data from the local groups themselves.

Palladium is ranked first amongst 26 USAID “primes” (contract or grant holders) for “fairness, genuine collaboration and respect;” first for “trustworthiness and commitment to accountability;” and fourth for “transparency and open communication.”

“To understand organizations’ experiences working with prime contracting organizations, we needed to hear directly from subcontracted organizations,” explains Unlock Aid, who conducted the research and published the report, “especially local organizations, social enterprises, private sector actors, and grassroots groups.”

According to Unlock Aid co-executive director Walter Kerr, the research – dubbed “Glassdoor for Primes” – was intended to “provide more sunlight into which of these bigger international companies are good partners to smaller and local groups, and which ones are not.”

Palladium co-CEO Ricardo Michel describes the results as “motivating.”

“Establishing strong partnerships is critical to our ability to deliver sustainable impact,” he says. “It’s validating to be ranked so highly, but these results are also a call to action for us to continue to improve and to ensure that our partners’ experience of working with Palladium is beyond reproach.”

“First place doesn’t mean our partners gave us a perfect score.”

While Palladium’s ranking confirms what Michel has seen and heard himself on his visits to local offices, he’s grateful for the opportunity Unlock Aid has given partners to speak candidly and confidentially about their experiences.

“There are always dynamics at play when it comes to giving and receiving feedback,” he explains, “and this report will help us to keep doing what’s working while deepening our understanding of what our partners in country and in the U.S. need so we can be even better partners to them in the future.”

USAID’s commitment to localization means shifting the agency’s development resources to local actors—such as governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector—within partner countries. The goal is to empower the recipients of aid funding to set their own priorities and take the lead in addressing their own development challenges.

In 2021, USAID set a goal that by 2025, 25% of all money would go directly to local organizations. This target won’t be met, but Michel supports the spirit in which it was set.

“Who knows better how to address local challenges than local organizations?” asks Michel in a recent op-ed on localization. He explains that a lot of local organizations are intricately familiar with the challenges being faced in their country; they know the best solutions for those problems; and they have the technical expertise to execute on those solutions. But they struggle with the ‘back office’ functions when it comes to working with USAID or other donor organizations, which puts them at a disadvantage when USAID is looking to award a project.

For Michel, the solution lies in the way that Palladium has always done business. “For 60 years, we’ve committed to having offices led by local staff, but with our support and depth of bench and talent around the world to back them up,” he says. “It’s our ability to efficiently deliver on the U.S. government’s objectives, while at the same time building the capacity of local partners on the ground so they can focus on delivering tailored, localized solutions.”

Contact info@thepalladiumgroup.com to learn more.