Heifer CEO sets retirement plans; Arkansas-based nonprofit will begin 'global' search for replacement

Ferrari to exit after 12 years

FILE — Heifer International President and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Ferrari is shown in this 2012 file photo. (Democrat-Gazette staff photo)
FILE — Heifer International President and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Ferrari is shown in this 2012 file photo. (Democrat-Gazette staff photo)

When Pierre Ferrari took over as president and chief executive officer of Heifer International in 2010, he promised that he wouldn't use "weak words" such as "alleviate, diminish, lessen or reduce" when it came to the nonprofits' mission of ending world hunger and poverty.

Instead, Ferrari, a Harvard-educated, former marketing executive at Coca-Cola spoke of "demand" "pricing" and "markets," saying entrepreneurship and building a local business infrastructure with farmers in the developing world were the keys to ending poverty.

"After 33 years in business it becomes instinctive to talk the way I'm talking," Ferrari said.

After 12 years at the helm, Ferrari, 71, will retire from Heifer International in September, the nonprofit announced Thursday. Heifer International will begin a "global search" for a new CEO soon, according to a news release.

Ferrari has used his business background to help farmers around the world create sustainable business practices, the release said. Under Ferrari's tenure, the nonprofit expanded its animal giving program and helped farmers gain access to affordable financing, the organization said.

But now, Ferrari said his tenure has lasted long enough and the organization could use new leadership, adding "I just believe at some point you got to rotate out and bring in fresh blood and fresh thinking."

"Over the last 12 years, Pierre and the team have transformed Heifer into a leading international development organization, partnering with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way," Randi Hedin, chairperson of Heifer International's board of directors said in a statement.

Ferrari, who was born in the Belgian Congo to a family of Italian decent, said his work was driven by what he saw as an anti-colonial approach to charity, which meant setting up a local business infrastructure for farmers in the developing world.

"The Neo-colonial approach of a big -- of a white man -- in Washington, D.C., knowing what to do in a particular community, that has ended or is ending and just doesn't work," Ferrari said.

The Little Rock-based nonprofit is on a mission to end poverty and hunger around the world, largely through assisting small farmers in the developing world.

"Through high quality programs focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, millions of people around the world are building food and farming businesses and reaching a living income," Hedin said in a statement. "They are investing with Heifer in infrastructure that enables farmers to get their products to market, generating income and jobs for the long-term.

For Ferrari, assistance means helping farmers understand market forces and consumer demands rather than just how to increase production. Often, Heifer International works with cooperative farmers, who pool their resources. A coffee farmer, or co-op, who understands market forces can create a sustainable business that feeds his family, Ferrari said.

"It's a different perspective for a development organization, a demand-driven mindset rather than a supply-driven mindset," he said.

When Ferrari took over in 2010, Heifer had already grown from a charity known for donating livestock to subsistence farmers around the world to a nonprofit with a four-story, 94,000-square-foot headquarters under the leadership of his predecessor, Jo Luck.

Right before he took over, Heifer International saw a dip in revenue because of the 2008 recession but quickly stabilized within years.

When he became CEO, Ferrari said he felt that the nonprofit was inefficient, running 900 different projects in 47 different countries. Heifer International now works in 21 countries with fewer than 30 projects he said.

"To my business eye, that was an incredibly inefficient and scattered way of approaching the work that we did," Ferrari said.

The move toward efficiency meant Heifer is assisting roughly six times the number of people, according to his estimation.

Heifer reported about $140 million in contributions and grants, with net assets totaling $287 million, according to its 2020 federal nonprofit tax-exemption form. But for Ferrari, the nonprofits' revenue, which has steadily grown during his tenure, is not a measure of success.

"What's really important is the impact you're having with your dollar," Ferrari said.

Born in the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ferrari's family left in 1961 after the country's independence from Belgium. After a short stay in Brussels, the family moved to Kenya, but his parents opted to send Ferrari to a Catholic boarding school in England, hoping it would better prepare him for college.

After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Ferrari earned his master's of business administration from Harvard University and eventually landed a corporate job at Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

But after years as a vice president of marketing at the soft-drink giant, Ferrari longed for more meaningful work after admonishing his teenage son for having a Coke with breakfast. His son wondered why he couldn't drink Coke with breakfast when telling his dad "this is what you do all day long: Sell more Coke to more people."

"I suddenly realized I wasn't doing work that I really loved -- it was the money," Ferrari said.

After retirement, Ferrari said he plans to get involved in Democratic Party politics in Georgia, where he lives. He also said he plans to write a book about his work at Heifer, travel with his wife and find some time to work on his golf game.



 Gallery: Heifer International's Pierre Ferrari



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