Washington has been abuzz with talk about the future of U.S. foreign assistance.  In a time of serious economic crisis, development experts have offered President-elect Obama and his team a number of recommendations for streamlining foreign aid and increasing its effectiveness as a powerful, efficient tool of U.S. international engagement.  We all want our U.S. tax dollars sent abroad to be invested wisely, to deliver results that matter in the fight against global poverty, and to further America’s image and positive influence throughout the world.

From its creation, MCC has advocated for country-led and country-implemented anti-poverty strategies that stress efficiency and accountability.  Our aid rewards countries committed to good governance and to results.  I discussed these very principles during a conversation with Steve Radelet from the Center for Global Development earlier today.  During the event, I was again impressed by the active, vocal support that exists for these principles.

We hear these same values echoed in studies by leading think tanks and in recent opinion pieces on the pages of America’s newspapers.  The private sector members of MCC’s Board of Directors—Lorne Craner, Bill Frist, Kenneth Hackett, and Alan Patricof—penned a bipartisan, joint op-ed for the New York Times on December 20th in which they stated that “not all foreign aid is the same.  Hard lessons learned over the past five decades have taught us that good governance, accountability, local ownership, and long-term engagement are the keys to success.”

As Americans prepare for a historic inauguration, President-elect Obama’s administration recognizes the value of foreign aid to enhance America’s place in the world.  MCC is a manifestation of this.

MCC’s smart power not only makes the world a better place but also makes America’s place in the world better.  In ongoing discussions about the future framework of U.S. foreign aid, MCC will serve as a strong platform for building upon and reinforcing what works to deliver effective assistance and thereby bring sustainable positive change to the lives of the world’s poor.  I’ve been honored to be a part of MCC’s contribution to this noble effort and will continue to closely follow its progress moving forward as an advocate and champion.

Yesterday, I participated in my last Board of Directors meeting as Chief Executive Officer of MCC. The MCC Board, comprised of both government officials and private sector members, reached important decisions that are core to MCC’s model and mission to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth.

I invite you to read about the countries the Board selected as now eligible to apply for an MCC compact (Colombia, Indonesia, and Zambia) or threshold program (Liberia). True to MCC’s innovative approach to development assistance, it is now up to these newly-selected countries to consult with their citizens, prioritize their development goals, and work toward developing their compact or threshold proposal to generate the opportunity and growth essential for reducing poverty. The Board also made an important decision regarding our partnership with Nicaragua. These types of decisions are ones that MCC’s Board takes very seriously and only after close consultation and intense deliberation. You can read more about the Board’s decision regarding future collaboration with Nicaragua, and other concerns voiced during yesterday’s meeting, on our website, www.mcc.gov.

It has been an enormous privilege to work with such an outstanding Board of Directors, whose sage advice and reasoned decisions have served MCC extraordinarily well in realizing our impressive $6.7 billion portfolio of compacts in 18 countries and threshold programs in 19 countries. These grants are training farmers, registering property rights, building roads, educating and immunizing children, and supporting business development. The transition to the next administration means that a new slate of public servants will replace Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab, and USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore. The new appointees will join the four private sector members who will continue serving on the Board—Lorne Craner, Bill Frist, Ken Hackett, and Alan Patricof. The ongoing leadership of these private sector Board members ensures continuity and provides valuable institutional memory that will be of tremendous benefit to MCC moving forward. The participation of these private sector Board members is one of the most unique elements of MCC’s management, reaffirming that the fight against poverty involves not just the resources of government but also the ingenuity and innovation of civil society and private enterprise.

Year’s end is always a time of reflection, a time to ponder the milestones achieved and the goals still ahead. While we have made measurable strides in reducing poverty through MCC’s partnerships, there is still more to do. The year ahead marks an exciting new chapter in MCC’s history. Our partnerships and programs will continue. Implementation progress will continue to multiply as more projects come to fruition. Our way of awarding development assistance will continue to draw interest and attention as discussions intensify about the future architecture of foreign aid. Poll results released yesterday through the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network confirm that 70 percent of engaged opinion elites favor “reforms to improve the effectiveness of foreign aid by shifting aid dollars from less effective programs to programs that help hungry and poor people in developing countries provide for their families.” More than eight in ten “favor cutting federal programs that don’t work and making those that do more efficient.” They make the case for modernizing foreign assistance by stressing strategy, efficiency, and accountability. These are the principles we stand by here at MCC.

With change upon us, the permanence of MCC’s principles equip us well to make further progress in the fight against global poverty in 2009 and beyond. My hope for you and yours this holiday season is the same one I have for those benefitting from MCC programs in partners countries worldwide: peace, health, prosperity. Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.

The holiday season is a particularly poignant time to reflect on the needs of those around the world who are less fortunate than ourselves.  We are responsive to the struggle and sacrifice confronting millions of families worldwide who are living in poverty.  Their incredible burdens are also the most basic of human needs-how to access shelter, food, health services, education, and jobs.  MCC is making a difference in this fight against systemic, entrenched poverty.  And, we are enhancing our efforts by partnering with organizations that share our core belief that generating sustainable prosperity, development, and growth can improve the lives of the poor.

MCC’s MOU with the World Food Program

MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich and World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran, pictured here with a small red cup Sheeran brought from Africa is an actual portion size of the only food that some children in school food programs throughout the world receive on a daily basis.

Today, I joined Josette Sheeran, my good friend and a champion for the poor who serves as the World Food Program’s (WFP) Executive Director, to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the WFP and MCC that creates a framework for coordinating our investments to significantly leverage our mutual impact on global economic growth, poverty reduction, and improved food security.  The MoU outlines three areas of cooperation in countries where both the WFP and MCC work: agricultural production, policy and program reforms, and gender integration.  These are all important components for strengthening local markets and achieving food security.

Building on MCC’s existing partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), MCC and the WFP will initially work in countries where MCC is already collaborating with AGRA.  The cooperation between MCC and AGRA is bearing fruit and setting a precedent for results.  In Madagascar, for example, AGRA is considering an investment of over $500,000 to MCC-funded agricultural business centers to set up farmer-based seed multiplication sites for improved varieties of rice, corn, and beans.

MoUs like these-with AGRA and now with the WFP-demonstrate MCC’s commitment to augmenting U.S. taxpayer money with additional initiatives. This approach prevents duplication of efforts, enhances the impact of each project activity, and helps our partners attract investments in long-term growth.  Particularly in a time of severe financial constraints, this is a smart and strategic approach that ensures that every dollar counts.

MCC’s Partnerships throughout Latin America

What’s equally smart and strategic is the power of effective partnerships to fight poverty in the Americas.  With nearly $1 billion committed to compacts and threshold programs in the Americas, MCC is proof of positive and constructive U.S. engagement throughout the Western Hemisphere.

MCC CEO Ambassador John Danilovich shakes hands with Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana

I was reminded of this just yesterday when I welcomed Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana, to MCC to discuss progress on Guyana’s nearly $7 million MCC threshold program, which is aimed at overhauling fiscal policies, creating a more business-friendly environment, and streamlining business registration.  Guyana’s progress is proof of the deep resolve in the Americas to replace poverty with prosperity, and we are proud of our role in helping our partners achieve their self-determined, country-driven antipoverty plans.

Farmers in Honduras received technical assistance and training in small business skills and agricultural practices

Last night, I attended an event hosted by the Council of the Americas where I spoke about the “good news” of MCC’s approach to development assistance and what it is accomplishing in the hemisphere-students attending vocational training, thousands of families receiving land titles, farmers benefitting from training to increase their agricultural productivity, jobs being created, and key infrastructure being developed.  The slideshow of MCC’s work in Latin America provides an overview of the strength of our partnerships to transcend the often empty rhetoric of politics to deliver the tangible reality of positive, meaningful change for the poor.

MCC’s partnerships-whether with other donors or with partner countries-is how the fight against poverty will be won.  Through mutual accountability and a mutual investment of resources, expertise, and resolve, we see this underway already.  The time to further build on this progress is now.

A great achievement in Georgia

It is no secret that Georgians, and particularly Georgia’s poor, have confronted considerable conflict and economic uncertainty during the past few months.  Yet, even in the face of this, the country’s resolve to address systemic poverty has not been deterred or diminished.  Progress continues on Georgia’s MCC compact, which is primarily focused on rehabilitating infrastructure for transportation, energy, and municipal water services.  These infrastructure improvements are creating jobs, facilitating access to markets, boosting trade links, improving travel time, reducing vehicle operating costs, providing communities with a constant supply of potable water, and delivering heat to homes and businesses. 

I traveled to Georgia last week and heard from Georgians firsthand about their daunting situation.  Despite the difficult times, I also sensed the strong resolve of our Georgian partners to replace poverty with prosperity, and uncertainty with economic stability.

While in Tbilisi, I joined Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili to sign an amendment to Georgia’s MCC compact that increases MCC’s development assistance under the compact by $100 million, bringing the total to $395 million.  This additional funding will be used to complete projects relating to roads, regional infrastructure development, and energy activities.  The majority of these projects were part of Georgia’s original concept for its compact, which can now be included and realized with this additional funding.  Georgians, who themselves outlined and advocated for these projects as important in reducing poverty and stimulating growth, will build on the compact progress already evident and will use these funds to pave additional roads, build wastewater networks, and make more headway on their country’s national energy strategy.  Projects like these will go a long way toward boosting investor confidence in Georgia, contributing to economic stability, and promoting economic growth that will improve the lives of millions of Georgians living in poverty.  I invite the public to learn more about this amendment to the U.S. Government’s poverty reduction compact with Georgia through MCC’s web site, where the full set of documentation (including Congressional Notifications, Fact Sheets, Country Status Reports, and other information) is available.

In Paris with Agence Française de Développement

The fight against global poverty requires as many partners as possible. No nation, or donor organization, can shoulder or effectively tackle this problem alone. That’s why en route to Tbilisi, I met in Paris with my counterpart in the French government to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Agence Française de Développement (AFD).  The French share America’s commitment to eradicating global poverty, and this MOU memorializes the intent to deepen in-country cooperation between our two development agencies in sectors such as microfinance, land tenure, legal and judicial reform, transportation infrastructure, and agriculture in countries where we are both working.  Especially in places such as Africa, this enhanced cooperation will make our poverty reduction efforts more effective.  We had an early example of this cooperation last month when MCC and AFD co-sponsored a workshop for African countries to share lessons learned regarding land policy.    

Results-oriented partnerships between MCC and partner countries like Georgia and between MCC and other donors like AFD will lead to improvements in the lives of the world’s poor in ways that matter for their long-term prosperity.

We have so much to learn from schoolchildren.  Their curiosity and imagination have never ceased to intrigue and impress me during my service as U.S. Ambassador and, more recently, as Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO.  One of the most gratifying aspects of this job has been the chance to talk with young people in some of the 35 countries where we are partnering to reduce poverty.  My visit to Ghana late last month was a particularly poignant reminder of the huge investment that the United States is making in education around the world.

Education is a major driver of economic growth, which is at the heart of a sound antipoverty strategy.  Last month in Ghana, I participated in the commissioning ceremony for one of the hundreds of schools that will be renovated or built through Ghana’s $547 million MCC compact.  In the joy of the children and the enthusiasm of the teachers, we can already see how our investments in education are making a difference.  Investing in education enhances future earnings and employment opportunities for students, while contributing to overall economic growth and poverty reduction.  In addition to Ghana, MCC grants support educational programs in Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, and Namibia.

I was also in Ghana to preside over the groundbreaking of a major road project, together with President Kufuor.  Funded through Ghana’s MCC compact, the rehabilitation of this critical transportation route from the capital of Accra to the port of Tema will help farmers get their products to the marketplace in a quicker, more cost-efficient manner.  Having pineapples or mangos, for example, sit on the back of a lorry for three hours on their way to markets wastes time and fuel and shortens the fruit’s shelf-life.  This new roadway will transform Ghana’s agriculture sector and help fuel sustainable economic growth.  I am proud of these tangible results unfolding in our partner countries worldwide.  Investments in infrastructure are essential to the very real needs for development our partners themselves have identified as vital for long-term growth and prosperity.

Our partners also consistently identify secure and efficient access to land as critical for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.  We have seen our partners invest their MCC grants in ways to promote improved legal frameworks, more client service-oriented property registries, and formal recording of land rights in selected communities.  To further discuss the importance of secure land tenure for the poor, I welcomed Ron Terwilliger, Chairman of the Board for Habitat for Humanity International, to MCC last Thursday for a standing-room only event to delve into the “housing crisis that no one is talking about”-the issue of secure land tenure for the world’s poor.

Investments in education, infrastructure, and land tenure are making a difference in ways that matter to the poor.  MCC looks forward to advancing this progress under the Obama-Biden administration.  We encourage the new administration and congressional representatives, from both parties, to continue the fight to end global poverty through sustainable and results-based programs like MCC.  Given today’s global economic concerns, we recognize the increased importance of investing every dollar of taxpayers’ money wisely when it comes to foreign aid.  MCC remains committed to making smart and innovative investments in countries that are focusing on positive policy reform and delivering tangible results in the fight against poverty.

In the end, fighting global poverty is about good policies, not politics.   It is a fight based on partnership.  Our partners know this; and we know this.  MCC’s effective, results-driven collaboration with partner countries to replace poverty with prosperity is something we can all be proud of as Americans and as responsible and concerned citizens of an increasingly connected world.

Global poverty will continue to plague our world as long as corruption remains unchecked.  From boardrooms to farm fields, the corrosive effects of corruption rob countries large and small of the chance for long-term economic growth and sustainable development.  This issue is one of the constant themes that people around the globe raise with me as we discuss ways that the U.S. Government can help lift people out of poverty in the most effective, results-based way.  Addressing the problem is at the heart of the MCC model, and we partner exclusively with those countries that are taking concrete steps to free their countries from corruption’s strangulating grip.

A prime example of this partnership is MCC’s relationship with Paraguay.  We have worked with Paraguay since May 2006 in targeted sectors identified by the Paraguayans as high priorities in fighting corruption.  MCC’s $34.64 million anticorruption Threshold Program in Paraguay is nearing completion, and some of the early results paint an impressive picture of what can be accomplished when a country confronts corruption in an open and aggressive manner.  A new forensic laboratory will help Paraguay’s prosecutors carry out investigations with the right tools and with integrity.  Discipline of judicial personnel has improved significantly now that complaints can be filed and processed in an open and transparent way.  Internal controls and ethics awareness are helping thousands of Paraguay’s public servants serve with greater accountability, quality, and integrity.  Paraguay’s tax authority is aggressively pursuing noncompliant businesses and contraband, and illegal merchandise totaling over $6 million has been seized thanks to enhanced systems in Paraguay’s customs service.

These actions are tangible steps toward rooting out corruption.  In recognition of these concrete efforts-and of the commitment of Paraguay’s new President Fernando Lugo and his historic government to sustain reforms and further control corruption-MCC invited Paraguay to submit a second, “Stage II” Threshold Program proposal, which is currently under review.  Partners like Paraguay understand why MCC considers corruption as one of the “hard hurdles” that must be overcome in order to be eligible for a large-scale grant, or MCC compact.  It makes sense that U.S. taxpayer investments go to countries that are tackling these problems on their soil.  It makes sense for our partners to join with the U.S. in fighting a common enemy like corruption, the negative effects of which infect our global economy and hurt all of us in the long-run.  A less corrupt world is a better place to do business, a more nurturing environment for democracy, and a better home for all of us.  The fight against poverty requires the fight against corruption.  It’s as true in countries like Paraguay as it is in places like our own country and our own hometowns, and it requires our combined efforts as partners.

Last week, MCC signed threshold agreements with Rwanda and Albania to support their efforts to become eligible for U.S. Government assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account. While these two countries have little in common in terms of geography, cultural heritage, or history, they share a fundamental aspiration: to give their citizens the building blocks to construct economic self-reliance in a meaningful and prosperous way. At a standing-room only ceremony on Capitol Hill to celebrate the threshold program with Rwanda, and at a similar ceremony in Tirana for the threshold program with Albania, there was much discussion about the importance of these building blocks. It is something that the United States is successfully addressing through innovations like MCC.

Systemic poverty robs people of basic freedoms and choices. The sound economic, political, and social policies that MCC expects from its partners are helping create societies where entrepreneurship can flourish. The roads, land titles, schools, water and sanitation improvements, and agricultural programs that MCC supports are allowing men and women to choose their economic path, instead of being constrained by poverty. Rather than fleeing to urban areas or crossing borders, these people are building a solid economic, political, and social future right at home. This builds stability; and greater economic stability for the world’s poor means a healthier global economy and world community for all of us.

Innovations in assistance, such as MCC, are the subject of a historic White House Summit on International Development that will take place in Washington this Tuesday. I am pleased that MCC has been asked to convene a panel discussion on economic growth as part of this meeting. The conversation about how to best deliver U.S. Government assistance continues to underline the need for results-based programs that measure not just the dollars disbursed, but tangible, positive impacts in the lives of the poor. A recent report by Oxfam International discusses this concept and points to MCC as one way it is being addressed. This principle is part of our work in Africa just as much as it is in Eurasia and Latin America. Countries such as Denmark, with whom MCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month, are also looking at how to maximize their poverty reduction investments abroad, and MCC is proud to be working with them to make that goal a reality. In a month when the world commemorates the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and World Food Day, concerted, positive actions like these are among the best things we can do to ensure that the fight against poverty results in tangible, positive impacts for the poor.

These essential building blocks for economic success are something that Americans take seriously. At MCC, by asking recipients of U.S. assistance to enact policies that foster good governance, investments in their people, and greater economic freedom, we are helping strengthen the building blocks for global prosperity that benefit us all. Thank you for your continued comments and feedback at info@mcc.gov.

Recent events have focused increased attention on how closely the world’s economies are dependent on one another to achieve global prosperity and security.  At the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we can see first-hand how poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere.  Finding long-term solutions to fight the problem of global poverty is not simply the right thing to do, it’s also the most expedient thing to do - for the men and women of our partner countries and for our long-term economic stability here in America.

MCC announced this week that another $2.55 billion in U.S. Government poverty-reduction grants had entered into force in Lesotho, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, and Tanzania.  This means that these programs are now entering the implementation phase, joining 11 other compacts already being implemented around the world.  Over the next five years, the work of design, preparation, training, construction, and monitoring and evaluation will take place in a number of sectors that will bring tangible results for the people of these regions.  In Morocco, this means more efficient fisheries.  In Tanzania, it means improved rural roads.  In all our partner countries, it means a transparent process where the communities have a voice in these projects.  The flow of money is scrutinized in a transparent manner, and all segments of society - with a special emphasis on women - will have a chance to participate and prosper in their local economies.

In Washington, I was pleased to see our friends in Congress again show their strong support for MCC’s mission to reduce poverty through economic growth.  Legislation introduced by Chairman Donald Payne of the House Subcommittee on Africa, and a letter authored by Congressmen Adam Smith (D-WA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), signed by 36 of their colleagues, place a premium on confronting global poverty with smart, results-based programs.

I had the opportunity to brief many of you following the MCC Board of Directors meeting held earlier this month.  The meeting touched on a number of important subjects, including MCC programs in Georgia.  I was also happy to announce the approval of Threshold programs in Rwanda and a Stage II (second) Threshold program with Albania.  We look forward to public events marking the signing of these programs in mid-October.

As our work with our partners continues, we at MCC are proud to be delivering foreign assistance in the name of the American people in a way that conveys our trust and vision for a more prosperous world.  MCC’s new logo, developed at the suggestion of the U.S. Congress and many of our stakeholders, helps convey this partnership.  It is a partnership that has an impact in the lives of the poor in dozens of countries, and is a smart use of hard-earned taxpayer money.

The U.S. Government’s support for Africa is much more than words alone.  The tangible actions on the ground in places where the Millennium Challenge Corporation operates are evidence that long-term solutions to poverty are hard at work in Africa.  What African leaders continue to tell us is that they don’t want mere donations; they want partnerships.  We have such a partnership with Burkina Faso.  This week’s signing of a $481 million MCC compact with Burkina Faso is an exciting milestone for me personally and for this organization.  President Compaore and I attended the signing ceremony for the grant agreement at the State Department, with MCC Board Chair Condoleezza Rice presiding at the event.  These funds provide more than emergency or temporary relief to Burkina Faso’s economy.  They are designed to go deep into solving the impediments to growth that the country itself identified.  The compact follows a successful two-year, $13 million threshold program to improve girls’ access to education in Burkina Faso that MCC proudly funded.  Having visited the “girl-friendly” schools that MCC funds made possible, I can attest to the effectiveness of this investment.  You can feel the sense of hope and accomplishment in these schools where families and communities can now offer their daughters options for their future.

MCC’s private-sector Board members are already some of our best spokespersons about what our country-driven approach is accomplishing in Africa.  MCC’s Board composition is unique, with private-sector members—along with key government officials—playing a crucial role in guiding the organization in our mission to reduce poverty through growth.  Catholic Relief Services President Ken Hackett, who serves on MCC’s Board as one of those private-sector members, joined me earlier this week to talk about the Burkina Faso compact during an outreach meeting with President Compaore.  Ken shared his first-hand perspective on how investments in Africa are making a difference.  I am also happy to report that MCC Board member Senator Bill Frist is currently in Africa and is visiting MCC projects and beneficiaries as part of his itinerary.  Be sure to read about some of his impressions.

As the debate in Washington continues about how best to deliver foreign assistance, MCC is pleased to see such robust dialogue emerge around the very principles that are at the core of our operating model.  During congressional hearings and meetings in recent weeks, we have heard time and again how aid with accountability, a focus on results, partner country-led solutions, an intolerance for corruption, and investments for long-term economic development are more than nice ideas; they are best practices that should be examined and embraced to deliver U.S. development assistance effectively.  We at MCC welcome this debate and invite you to look further into what is unfolding in the 18 countries where we are working to fight poverty by employing these core principles.  It’s not a fight that any one approach alone can win, but MCC is changing the conversation about foreign assistance and providing an effective action plan.  Poverty, after all, is a foe that demands our actions, and not just our words.

Today, MCC welcomed former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to our Washington headquarters to commemorate an important milestone that helps us accomplish our mission to reduce poverty and improve the lives of our friends and partners in Africa. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with AGRA will allow our organizations to achieve more at a time when food security issues are a top priority in the fight against poverty. Mr. Annan and I agree that implementing long-term, country-based solutions to foster agricultural growth is key to reversing the current food crisis in a sustainable way. By joining forces on this front, we are helping to deepen the commitment to the work already underway in our partner countries, from reforming agricultural sectors to investing in fundamental rural infrastructure. I invite you to learn more about what our local partners and experts agree are closely linked aspects of food security and poverty reduction that demand our attention.

Mr. Annan’s cooperation with MCC, and his words of encouragement for MCC’s mission, are the latest in a growing chorus of support for the results we are seeing on the ground. President Bush, a bipartisan group of Senators, and groups like the Center for Global Development, InterAction, Freedom House, and the U.S. Global Leadership Council have been sending a clear message of support to Congress over the past few weeks. As CEO of an agency helping to change the conversation about the way the U.S. can help address poverty, I am encouraged to see support from the many champions of those who live on less than $2 a day. We agree with them that poverty isn’t political-it’s about policy, not politics.

The various memoranda of understanding MCC has signed recently are much more than mere paper or policy declarations. We are seeking ways to leverage the resources of those in the private sector (such as GE and Microsoft), of those with in-depth, on-the-ground knowledge in places like Africa (as is the case with DfID and AGRA), and of those who can help us find a diverse, talented workforce (as with the Phelps-Stokes Fund) in order to achieve our goals. I have asked that each of these memoranda of understanding be available to the public on our website so that you can see how MCC works to augment U.S. taxpayer money with additional initiatives. Only by engaging and working together with groups like these can we prevent duplication, improve the impact of each kilometer of road or irrigation, and help our partners attract long-term growth opportunities. MCC is just one tool in the toolbox to help address global poverty. We can accomplish much more by working together, and I welcome your input to help identify those working relationships that will help us achieve these goals.