Formation 1998 Location Australia
Uganda
Nepal | Headquarters Sydney Director Audette Exel | |
Type NGO, Business for Purpose Purpose Corporate Advisory/International Development | ||
The Adara Group (formerly the ISIS Group) is a partnership between an international development organisation Adara Development (formerly the ISIS Foundation) and two corporate advisory businesses Adara Advisors Pty. Limited (formerly ISIS Asia Pacific) and Adara Partners (Australia) Pty Limited. The objective of Adara Advisors and Adara Partners is to fund the core support costs of Adara Development. The organisation was founded in Bermuda in 1998 by New Zealand-born business woman Audette Exel.
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Name
The organisation was originally called the ISIS Group, after Isis, the Egyptian goddess of children and motherhood. In 2014, due to external factors, the ISIS Group changed its name to the Adara Group. The name Adara comes from the Epsilon Canis Majori, the second brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the traditional name Adhara (sometimes spelled Adara).
History
The Adara Group was co-founded in 1998 in Bermuda by Audette Exel and a small group of friends. Exel had just finished a three-year position as the Managing Director of BCB (during which time she was also the chairperson of the BSX). Soon after formation, Adara Development began to conduct development research in Humla, Nepal, and also fostered connections with Kiwoko Hospital in the war-torn Luwero Triangle, Uganda.
By 2000, Adara Development had helped build Yalbang School in Humla, and a neonatal intensive care unit in Kiwoko Hospital.
In 2002, Adara Development registered as a charitable trust in the United Kingdom.
In 2004, Adara Development discovered 136 trafficked children in an orphanage in Nepal, and began to negotiate with the human traffickers for their custody. Custody was granted in 2006.
In 2007, the Adara Group moved its headquarters from Bermuda to Sydney, Australia, and Adara Advisors Pty Limited was set up as a "business-for-purpose".
In 2009, Adara Development (USA) (formerly ISIS Foundation (USA)) was set up and in 2011 it received 501(c) status.
The Adara model
The Adara model is a business/not-for-profit partnership. The entirety of the profits made by the private business Adara Advisors are directed towards covering the core support costs of Adara Development, allowing any other donor money to flow straight to the Adara Development's project sites in Uganda and Nepal. The Adara Group is credited with being 'one of the earliest examples of "Business-for-Purpose"'.
Adara Advisors
Adara Advisors (formerly ISIS Asia Pacific) is a corporate advisory and private placement business. Adara Advisors provides financial services to fund managers, raising capital from wholesale clients (mainly superannuation funds and other institutional bodies) and high-net-worth individuals.
Adara Development
Adara Development (formerly The ISIS Foundation) is an international development organisation with established projects in Nepal and Uganda. The Foundation supports initiatives in health, education and other community development.
Adara Partners
In June 2015 The Adara Group launched a new business - Adara Partners. Adara Partners uses the business acumen of some of Australia's most senior banking and finance figures, pro bono, to advise on financial transactions. The company operates on a very low cost base due to support donated by its partners including a big four accounting firm and two tech companies. Although it is an Australian Limited Company (pty) regulated by the Australian Regulator (ASIC), it is not driven by maximizing profit for shareholders. Rather it donates 100% of the profits annually from this advice to Adara Development, its sister INGO. The company was launched with the support of several of Australia’s well-known families, and the Founding Panel Members for Adara Partners include prominent Australian businessman David Gonski and Australian investment banker Steven Skala.
Nepal
Adara Development began operations in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and Humla, a remote region in the north-west of Nepal, in 1998. Their primary focus is on sustainable education, gender equality, healthcare, and community infrastructure, and they form partnerships with many local NGOs, like The Himalayan Innovative Society, to augment their delivery capabilities. Adara Development has also partnered with the Himalayan Children Society to build a local school which now educates 315 children from the region.
In 2004, Adara Development was alerted to more than 100 Humli children being held by traffickers in Kathmandu, in 'absolutely appalling conditions'. Over the next two years ISIS Foundation worked with the Nepalese Government and Police to secure custody of the children from the traffickers. This was achieved in 2006, and the children were slowly reconnected with their families, with Adara Development maintaining support through education and healthcare.
Uganda
Adara Development began working with Kiwoko Hospital in 1998. The hospital is located in the Nakaseke District, 80 kilometres northwest of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. They have established a neonatal intensive care unit in the hospital, and provide support for community healthcare, maternal healthcare and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Research
Adara Development conducts baseline and follow-up research in Humla, Nepal to inform the delivery of their programs. To conduct this research, Foundation staff survey every household in each village where they are located. The Foundation's field and research staff also participated in group meetings and focus discussions in each village, to discuss specific topics and get key insights from the participants. Research topics include: disease prevalence and health-seeking behaviour, access to education and nutrition status of mothers and children.
Adara Development began similar household surveys in Uganda in 2011, focusing on understanding key health factors, such as health and sanitation in the home. They also collect data to monitor the health status and outcomes associated with neonatal intensive care unit patients at Kiwoko Hospital. The data was analysed in collaboration with the University of Washington.