Purpose Before Profit: Derek Hodkey Of Orbis International On The Benefits Of Running A Purpose-Driven Business
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Acceptance and Followers — People need to see a pathway to addressing the challenge the organization is committed to addressing. People need to believe that they can be part of a solution and that the solution they see will have real meaning in helping others. If people can see a solution or see how they help deliver that solution, then the social enterprise is going to get very far.
In today’s competitive business landscape, the race for profits often takes center stage. However, there are some leaders who also prioritize a mission-driven purpose. They use their business to make a positive social impact and recognize that success isn’t only about making money. In this interview series, we are talking with some of these distinct leaders and I had the pleasure of interviewing Derek Hodkey, Orbis International.
Derek Hodkey is President & CEO of Orbis, an international nonprofit that has been transforming lives through the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness for nearly four decades. With 25 years of experience working in health-related fields, Derek has a wealth of leadership experience that spans international development, R&D, and life sciences across the biotech, pharmaceutical, and nonprofit sectors. Prior to joining Orbis, he was Chief Operating Officer for six years at Counterpart International, an INGO that partners with leaders, organizations, and social sector networks to build inclusive, sustainable communities. Before that, Derek spent eight years at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. As a scientist, Derek began his career at Merck & Co, initially as a chemist, but went on to hold several roles over the next 12 years — including Director, Resource & Research Planning — before moving into a senior management position at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Cambridge Healthtech Associates, Inc.
Can you tell us your “Origin Story”? Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I’m an only child, and I grew up in northeast Ohio. Neither of my parents attended college, and both were blue-collar workers. My parents worked hard and sacrificed to send me to Catholic high school and then on to state university. While at university, I studied organic chemistry and was selected to participate in an internship program with Dow Chemical in Midland, MI. Although the internship extended my college experience from four to five years, I was making money while working at Dow that helped pay for my college expenses. During my junior year in college, my father lost his job, and my parents sold the family home. Fortunately, thanks to my internship, I was able to pay for my last year of college without incurring any loan debt. My parents always wanted better for me, and I’m so grateful for the morals and lessons I learned from them about hard work, respect for others, and speaking up for myself when I had something I wanted or needed to say.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
Perhaps the most interesting story is that I joined as the new CEO in September 2020, my first time in a CEO role, during the COVID pandemic. I needed to get to know Orbis, and Orbis needed to know me, my priorities, and my vision during a period of heightened global anxiety. I held so many virtual meetings at all hours of the day and night, introducing myself, reassuring the global team of approximately 400 staff, sharing and being transparent with my priorities, asking for patience as I learned more about our organization, and encouraging the global team to be open with me. The team responded well, and within four months of my starting, I kicked-off an innovative and inclusive process to build a new five-year global strategy that would include input and perspectives from ~10% of the global team–it would be OUR global strategy.
We often learn the most from our mistakes. Can you share one that you made that turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned?
As the new CEO, and a first-time CEO, I felt enormous pressure, ownership, and responsibility to get things right and get things done. This meant that I sometimes was getting ahead of, or not fully including, the leadership team. To their credit, some members of the leadership team raised this as a concern–that it is all of us on leadership, not just me. Once I heard their concerns, I realized they were completely right, and I apologized to the leadership team and pledged to do better in the future, and I think I am doing better.
As a successful leader, it’s clear that you uphold strong core values. I’m curious what are the most important principles you firmly stand by and refuse to compromise on. Can you share a few of them and explain why they hold such significance for you in your work and life?
The four core values at the center of who I am include: Integrity, Accountability, Transparency, and Equity. Integrity goes back to my parents and the need to be upfront and honest in life. Importantly, as a nonprofit we have a sacred trust with our donors and the people we help to be honest and forthright with the resources and responsibilities entrusted to us. Accountability is empowering; I know what is expected of me, and it gives me a channel to raise and propose solutions to real and/or expected challenges. It’s important to know who is doing what, to ensure we are being efficient with resources, and not assuming someone else “has it.” Transparency is a core value as it not only builds trust, but also helps bring people along when they know more of the full picture. Ensuring that everyone is treated fairly, equally, and has an opportunity to be heard is why Equity is important to me. None of us has all the answers, so why limit the voices we can hear?
What inspired you to start a purpose-driven business rather than a traditional for-profit enterprise? Can you share a personal story or experience that led you to prioritize social impact in your business?
Unfortunately, my story about how I got into nonprofit work is not particularly inspiring. But, the reason I stayed in nonprofit work is. I started my career in the for-profit sector working in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, followed by a short stint in life-science consulting. My movement to the nonprofit sector was driven by events in my personal life. After my wife and I divorced, she and our two children moved from outside Boston, where we were living, to New Jersey. For almost five years, I was driving from Boston to New Jersey every other weekend to spend time with our young children. The 10-hour roundtrip drive was taking a toll on me, and I began to look for job roles closer to my children. I was hired by a global nonprofit headquartered in New York City called the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). The drive from New York City to my children’s home in New Jersey cut my drive from five hours to just one. I worked at IAVI for almost eight years before moving to another nonprofit based in Virginia, two years before my youngest child started university in Virginia. At this point, I probably could have moved back into the for-profit space to make more money. But, I was happy where I was. I was close to my kids, and I could see the real impact I was having in the world through my job. I didn’t need more than that. In my now almost 20 years in the nonprofit space, I’m so grateful for the experiences and perspectives these roles have given me access to and for making me a hopefully better human being. Meeting, listening, and engaging with people from other cultures with different life experiences and challenges is not only grounding, but also gives me hope and inspiration.
Can you help articulate a few of the benefits of leading a purpose-driven business rather than a standard “plain vanilla” business?
The benefits and joy of leading a purpose-driven organization are more real and more tactile than many for-profit businesses. People don’t join a nonprofit expecting large salaries, stock options, or big bonuses; rather, most people join because the mission of the organization makes a personal connection. Or maybe, like me, they initially join the sector for practical reasons, but stay because they see the impact they are making, and that is a moral bonus that feels even better than a cash bonus. A passion area of mine is helping children. When I get the opportunity to meet and speak with children, young people, and/or their parents whose lives have been improved because of Orbis’s work, I feel a shot of pure joy.
How has your company’s mission or purpose affected its overall success? Can you explain the methods or metrics you use to evaluate the impact of this purpose-driven strategy on your organization?
Globally, 90% of vision loss could be completely avoided through access to quality eye care. Orbis’s mission is to build strong and sustainable eye care systems globally that put treatment and prevention within reach. We achieve this by training local eye care teams to provide sight-saving care, growing eye care access for communities in need, developing and scaling innovative technology that improves the eye care experience for providers and patients, and teaming up with local partners to ensure our impact is sustainable.
We build detailed program plans that track and capture the metrics we use to discuss the impact of our work — such as, over the past decade alone, more than 424,000 trainings completed by eye care teams and over 12.2 million eye screenings and exams conducted. But for me, the metrics that deliver some of the greatest impact are not numbers, but rather personal stories of people like Ha, a woman from rural Vietnam, who had sight-restoring cataract surgery that changed her life for the better. She was finally able to care for her family and her farm once again. When people we’ve helped tell us about how their life has improved because of Orbis, that is the most powerful measure of success in my eyes.
Can you share a pivotal moment when you realized that leading your purpose-driven company was actually making a significant impact? Can you share a specific example or story that deeply resonated with you personally?
In 2023, I traveled to Ethiopia, home of Orbis’s largest and longest-running country program. I was invited to take part in a celebration–the 100-millionth dose of azithromycin distribution. Azithromycin is an antibiotic that treats a potentially blinding bacterial infection called trachoma. I traveled with our Ethiopia Country Director, Dr. Alemayehu Sisay, and members of his team to a remote location where we have been working to distribute the medication. As we approached the village, our convoy of vehicles stopped, and we were greeted by a group of village leaders on horseback. These gentlemen were going to escort us into their community. Alemayehu leaned over to me in the car and told me that this was a unique honor reserved for only the most special events. The whole community came out to welcome us and the other dignitaries who were also invited to take part in the celebration. This community knew Orbis and wanted to show their appreciation for the service, partnership, and sight-saving care we have been bringing to aid the youngest to the oldest members of the community. It was inspiring and moving to see the gratitude and pride of this community. I won’t ever forget it.
Have you ever faced a situation where your commitment to your purpose and creating a positive social impact clashed with the profitability in your business? Have you ever been challenged by anyone on your team or have to make a tough decision that had a significant impact on finances? If so, how did you address and reconcile this conflict?
Thankfully, I have not been put in that situation of profitability versus social impact, but I can confidently say that the mission always has to win, or you need to seriously re-evaluate your business model while taking steps to ensure a path to stay true to the core social impact purpose.
Yes, I have been challenged by people on my team, both as a COO and as a CEO. The answer always comes back to the mission — what best serves the mission today and in the future. Building a case for each option, engaging organizational leaders for their viewpoints, weighing again the options, and then deciding. As CEO, I own and need to be confident in the decisions that I make. These types of decisions come with risk and can be aided by experience, but it is fair to say that almost every time one of these instances surfaces, there is no “playbook,” and the deliberation and consultative process begins anew. A leader needs to lean not only on their experience but on the trust they have built within the organization and their leadership team.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs who wish to start a purpose-driven business?
Make sure the purpose is something that you are truly passionate about. As the leader, you will be wearing multiple hats, some of which you may not love to wear, but all are important to achieving your goal. Your passion for the goal is also critical as you will be the person that others will want to follow. There will be hard days — lean on your networks and friends for support and counsel. Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Be sure to take time to stop and look at what you have already achieved. There is always more and more that can be done, but it’s important to stop and take time to celebrate your successes.
What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Purpose-Driven Business.” If you can, please share a story or example for each.
1 . Vision and Mission — What is the challenge or need that you want to address and why? What is the scale of the challenge (local, national, global)? Who will benefit? Why is it important now? What can we do to address the challenge? A compelling vision is at the heart of any social enterprise and is what differentiates these efforts from others out there.
2 . Acceptance and Followers — People need to see a pathway to addressing the challenge the organization is committed to addressing. People need to believe that they can be part of a solution and that the solution they see will have real meaning in helping others. If people can see a solution or see how they help deliver that solution, then the social enterprise is going to get very far.
3 . Planning and More Planning — People need to know how this endeavor is going to work, what steps are needed, who is doing what, etc. Building and monitoring good plans is critical, and be prepared to get it wrong. Things rarely go 100% according to plan.
4 . Supporters: Big and Small — All good ideas need resources to move forward, so identify your target audiences, develop key messages, and go sell your vision. Cast as wide a net as you responsibly can.
5 . Taking Stock — This is all about making sure you are having the impact you intend and, if not, then assessing what steps to take to course-correct. This involves meeting and speaking with internal and external parties and then taking action.
I’m interested in how you instill a strong sense of connection with your team. How do you nurture a culture where everyone feels connected to your mission? Could you share an example or story that showcases how your purpose has positively influenced or motivated people on your team to contribute?
Connecting with the team is a continuous process. I do it by being accessible, with humor, personal stories, getting to know as many of their personal stories as I can, and at times, by being vulnerable and emotional. I share and describe my experiences meeting our partners and the people we help, by sharing their stories. I shared a story with our team about when I was in a thatch hut in Africa with a cataract surgeon, a patient, and a member of the Orbis team, just the four of us. A local woman was lying on a table and had been given a local anesthesia injection. A few moments later, the surgeon was making an incision on the woman’s eye while she was wide awake. She could see his hands and the scalpel. I immediately thought about how brave this woman was. Within 10 minutes the procedure was over. She had a new intraocular lens and could see better in that eye than I can see. Her trust and bravery inspired me.
Imagine we’re sitting down together two years from now, looking back at your company’s last 24 months. What specific accomplishments would have to happen for you to be happy with your progress?
In 2023, we asked our board to “green light” a multi-year investment in fundraising, and they agreed. Seeing that strategy beginning to show signs of delivery would make me very happy. We are a program-driven organization, and we need resources to grow our reach and add new programs. The fundraising growth plan is critical for us to serve people in need of life-changing vision care and services.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Wow, this is a hard one and a good one, too. I honestly believe in my heart of hearts that people have an untapped capacity to do good and, in most cases, want to do good. Unfortunately, the world today seems to be more divisive, and many people seem more prone to not offer a helping hand to someone they don’t know. It would be great if we could bring back a spirit of community and others first. Think of all the possible good that could be done. 😊
How can our readers further follow your work or your company online?
Readers can keep up with Orbis on our website at orbis.org.
About the interviewer: Chad Silverstein is a seasoned entrepreneur and thought-leader. With over 25 years of business experience, Chad’s entire career has been dedicated to creating a positive social impact in all of his enterprises. His entrepreneurial journey began while in college at The Ohio State University, where he founded Choice Recovery, Inc., which earned national recognition and was twice ranked as the #1 company to work for in Central Ohio. Chad is now a strategic advisor for Authority Magazine’s thought-leader incubator and an Executive Leadership Coach with Built to Lead, where he recently launched an online community for leadership development.
To learn more and connect with Chad, visit www.chadsilverstein.io
Purpose Before Profit: Derek Hodkey Of Orbis International On The Benefits Of Running A… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.