Nurture Development Africa (NDA) was established to in 2008 to address development issues in urban and rural areas of Africa through enabling individuals, communities, organisations and institutions to confidently grow, prosper and independently achieve their potential. We provide training, research, facilitation and conflict mitigation services to the Third (Community and Voluntary), the Public and the Private sectors respectively. Working in partnership with other agents of change such as local authorities, government departments and NGOs, we build unique and lasting solutions to a range of social problems.
The directors of NDA, Cormac Russell and Brian Nugent offer a wide range of complementary skills and knowledge which they have developed over 40 years of working in community development and organising, both in Africa and Ireland.
Our Services
Research
- Evaluations
- Strategic Plans
- Business Plans
- Gap Analysis/Asset Inventories
- Policy Development
- Demographic Analysis
- Appreciative Inquiry
Training:
- Community Development and Community Organising
- Asset Based Community Development
- Active Citizenship
- Management and Leadership Skills
- Social Enterprise Development
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Personal and staff Development
Facilitation:
- Conflict mitigation
- Team Building
- Planning
- Innovation Building
- Building sustainable communities,
- Public Consultation
- Conference facilitation (also recording/report preparation)
What makes us different?
Our philosophy is clearly informed by a way of thinking about social change that is different, new, innovative and exciting. Much social and economic research and development of today focuses on the analysis of problems, deficiencies and needs; while our focus in on solutions, growth and the potential of existing assets and skills. This is done through identifying, connecting and mobilising those assets so that people can respond to their own problems and address their own and their communities’ challenges.
The tools/theories/insights we draw on include:
- Asset Based Community Development - John McKnight.
- Conflict Mediation/Mitigation - ADR Group
- Community Building - Jody Kretzman and John McKnight
- Self-Organization - Margaret Wheatley
- Democracy & Service-Learning - John Dewey
- Open Space Technology - Harrison Owen
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming - Richard Bandler and John Grinder
- Social Capital and Community Well being - Robert Putnam
- Helping People to Help themselves - David Ellerman
- Future Search/Futures Methodology - Marvin Weisbord & Sandra Janoff
- Conference Model - Dick Axelrod
- Whole-Scale Change Approach - Kathie Dannemiller
- The World Cafe Approach - Juanita Brown & David Isaacs
- Koestenbaum Leadership Diamond - Peter Koestenbaum
- Investment in Excellence - Lou Tice
Our Team
Cormac Russell (Managing Director) is a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern University Chicago, as well as being an associate faculty member of the National College of Ireland. He is a qualified civil and commercial mediator accredited by Friarylaw and the ADR Group. He is also on the Friarylaw MCM Panel of Mediators.
He is a highly skilled and qualified social researcher, evaluator, trainer, facilitator, mediator and consultant on a wide range of social policy issues. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, with post graduate qualifications in Applied Psychology, Communications Therapy and Community Development and Leadership.
Cormac is a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute in Northwestern University in Chicago. Through his work on ABCD, Cormac has worked in the UK, Sweden, and North America supporting NGOs, businesses and communities to respond decisively to the issues they face.
Brian Nugent has over three decades of experience in the development and management fields, having worked in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Jordan, Yemen, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other locations. This experience has led him to seriously review the way in which aid and services have traditionally been delivered to the community sector. Brian is an approved facilitator for the Investment in Excellence Programme of The Pacific Institute.