By Chalks Corriette, Director General, People to People International

A book title made me smile recently. May Contain Lies, by the economist Alex Edmans, borrows the warning on a food packet to make a serious point: a good story is not the same as a true one.

Ted Lasso makes the same point in his own way. In one famous scene he tells a pub full of people to be curious, not judgmental, a line he credits to the poet Walt Whitman. Whitman scholars say he never wrote it. Ted’s advice holds up. His source does not.

That is a useful reminder as we begin work on PTPI 2.0. Good intentions and good stories are not enough. We need to check our own.

Where we are

Since the chapter network restarted and the Global Coordination Centre (GCC) took shape in Brussels, our role has been to support chapters, consolidate what they do and encourage fresh thinking. The question now is whether the GCC should also develop the organisation, and how.

This autumn, six graduate student consultants from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University will help us look at that question. They are expected in Brussels from late October to mid-November.

Their brief asks how PTPI can fund itself sustainably while serving young people and citizen diplomats of the next generation. Some of the conversations that follow will be hard. Their time has come.

Honest about money

It is tempting to remember the early decades as the easy years, with a large office, paid staff and famous friends. Walt Disney and Bob Hope were among the early backers, and Norman Rockwell and Margaret Mead lent their names to a People-to-People cartoon contest in 1959.

The record is more complicated. In 1957 President Eisenhower estimated the programme needed about US$350,000 a year, and warned that it should stop burdening its supporters if private backing could not be found. That October, the Ford Foundation declined to fund it. Paying for people-to-people work has never been automatic.

Today it is harder still. The pandemic halted exchange travel, and the difficult years that followed mean we are rebuilding trust as well as programmes. People want to know we are in this for the right reasons, not for a hidden agenda or an award. They are right to ask.

That is why we have chosen to build slowly, with clear guardrails, practical policies and promises we can keep. From 1 October, the News section and Resource Centre on ptpi.network become our single source of truth, including PTPI 2.0 updates, key policies, financial information and key meeting minutes.

Enthusiasm, with evidence

We have all watched organisations lose trust overnight when a polished story stopped matching reality. People are also rightly wary of any organisation that runs on passion alone. Passion without evidence can start to look like a sales pitch, or something worse.

Ted Lasso put up a handmade sign that simply read BELIEVE. Belief matters. Evidence is what keeps the sign on the wall. We intend to keep our heads in the clouds and our feet on the ground.

I hope the Thunderbird review endorses our choice to build quality rather than rush for momentum. If it tells us things we did not expect to hear, we will listen. A strong organisation can welcome both.

Where you come in

The students need to hear from the people who make PTPI what it is. We will invite members, chapter leaders, alumni and friends to speak with them. Please say yes.

Be curious, not judgmental, with them and with us. Ask the hard questions and expect honest answers.

You can also send your thoughts to office@ptpi.network and follow PTPI 2.0 updates on our News page.

This will not be our last partnership with talented international graduates. I hope it is the first of many, and that some of these young consultants stay connected to PTPI long after their project ends.

The honest label

Advancing Peace Through Understanding.