SI was founded in 1996 to respond to a growing global desire-and pressure—to make international development more effective in improving people's lives.
SI's two founders, Rolf Sartorius and Patricia Hanscom, brought together complementary insights and experiences from international development and public management with the aim of improving development through a relatively simple formula:
- Build capacities of organizations to support, scale-up and sustain development initiatives; and
- Catalyze participation and define clear and realistic results in designing and managing development programs