Book Event: Bullshit without Borders
October 15 is Global Handwashing Day. Come celebrate with a lively book event launching "Bullshit without Borders: Let's Change the Way We Change the World" by Susan M. Davis; published by Ripples Media.
Susan is a philanthropic advisor, social impact strategist, and advocate for effective and equitable development. She shares funny stories and serious lessons from three decades of leadership experience in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Her work spans 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. She has advised hundreds of donors on supporting sustainable, locally-led solutions.
Susan will be in conversation with Sarah Bramley, who has spent more than 20 years working in global public health, water, sanitation, and international development—which means she has held more conversations standing in school bathrooms than most people would believe possible. Her career has included leadership roles at Water For People, a decade with Save the Children, and earlier work with CARE and WaterPartners International (now Water.org). She has lived and worked around the world and wrestled with many of the same contradictions, absurdities, and moments of hope explored in Bullshit Without Borders. Today, through BloomWorks Solutions, Sarah helps mission-driven organizations think differently about how they create change. She is delighted to join her friend and fellow WASH traveler Susan on stage.
About the book (available for sale now):
Kirkus Reviews: "An informative, invitingly readable examination of how charity goes wrong and how it might be fixed."
Amazon #1 Hot New Release in Philanthropy & Charity
For the next generation of changemakers who care too much to settle for just good intentions.
The system of “saving the world” is broken—and it’s time to call bullshit. After seeing good intentions lead to bad outcomes in 30 countries, international development veteran Susan M. Davis is challenging the sacred cows of the aid industrial complex. She urges a radical rethink of how Global North outsiders approach social impact, starting with listening to the people closest to the problem.
Drawing from three decades of experience, from a scrappy startup that became Water.org to managing a multi-million-dollar USAID contract, Davis reveals the shocking truth: the system designed to end poverty may be perpetuating it. For example, half of all charitable water projects fail today, just as they did in the 1980s.
Bullshit without Borders is a provocative, self-implicating, and often hilarious exposé of the weird world of global aid. Davis pulls back the curtain on:
The Voluntourists: Why the feel-good fantasy reinforces power imbalances.
The Celebrity Foundations: How vanity projects drain resources from effective grassroot organizations.
The Alphabet-Soup INGOs: How billion-dollar agencies measure success by activities completed rather than lives transformed over time.
With unflinching honesty both endearing and uncomfortable, Davis uncovers the sector’s most oft-repeated mistakes. Each chapter closes with a C.R.A.P. (Curious Reflection and Provocation) to encourage a mindset reset. Essential reading for anyone brave enough to question how those with privilege can truly “help” others and those determined enough to do better.
We've been trying to change the world for a long time. It's time to change the way we do it.