Operation International, LTD
Medical Volunteers Changing the World
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Operation International, formerly known as International Surgical Mission Support (ISMS), is a secular, non-political, humanitarian organization founded in 1996 by Medhat Allam, MD; Ravi Kothuru, MD; and Robert Mineo, CRNA, who aspired to offer medical aid to adults and children suffering from the lack of quality health care in impoverished countries.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Feeding GypSEAS
A program designed to feed poor children in poor section of Philippines for 5 year period.
Teaching Social Workers/Kenya
The program provides weekly tele-medicine and education to social workers caring for females victims of gender violence in Kenya
Rakai Hospital Refurbishing
The program is aiming at refurbishing the operating room, recovery room and ICU in Rakai hospital/Uganda
Vision Restoration, Nepal
The program provides annual visits by ophthalmologists for vision restoration to poor patients in Nepal
Where we work
Awards
Affaliate 2016
United Nation
Affiliations & memberships
UNDGC 2017
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of orphanages supported
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We started building orphanages in 2018. Currently we have 3 orphanages that also serve as schools. in 2021 we have provided shelter, food, clothes, and education to over 1500 orphans.
Number of cataract surgeries performed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have reversed blindness due to cataract in thousands of patients. in 2020 due to COVID program was put on hold. in 2021 we restored vision to 287.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
In our quest to change and save as many lives as possible, Operation International provides free medical care to people in need, regardless of gender, cultural, ethnic, political or religious affiliations, in countries around the world. To ensure that our efforts impact underserved communities for years to come, we also offer education and training to local health care workers during each of our medical missions.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Team NY, the first Operation International team, made its maiden mission to Haiti in 1997, where our founders of the organization witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of poverty and inadequate medical care. Since our inception, our team of doctors, clinicians, nurses, and aides has expanded to include over 200 medical professionals currently providing services through our many individual Chapters throughout the United States.
In our many medical missions to date, we have impacted the lives of thousands of people, performing surgeries and other innovative medical procedures including sight restoration, burn reconstructive surgeries, corrective surgeries for congenital anomalies such as clubfoot and cleft palate, cancer operations, and obstetric surgeries.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We've been able to raise $2,000,000 for our International school and orphanage.
We've been able to raise over $200,000 that helped us construct 3 orphanages and have been able to support them financially for over 4 years where over 1500 orphans now live, and receive education.
We've been able to raise enough funds to support more than 10 medical missions every year.
We've been able to raise funds to ship tens of containers every year to increase capacities of our hospital bases in several countries.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the course of the last 25 years, we've grown from one team of several healthcare providers to 14 teams with hundreds of volunteers. In addition to our USA-based teams, we have grown to have 3 teams locating in other countries, namely UK, Spain, and Hong Kong.
Over the last several years we've refurbished hospitals in Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Bolivia.
Over the last 5 years we successfully built orphanages in Ghana, Uganda, and Ivory Coast.
We have successfully formulated relationship with several foundations that provide us with steady flow of donations.
We have successfully established a long term relationship with several Rotary clubs that fund our projects.
Over the course of the last 25 years we've trained tens of surgeons and hundreds of nurses in many countries. Furthermore, we've established patients' care protocols in many hospitals that resulted in safer patient outcome.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Operation International, LTD
Board of directorsas of 12/21/2022
Dr. Medhat Allam
Operation International
Term: 2003 - 2022
Medhat Allam
Operation International
Ravi Kothuru
Christopher Torres
Robert Mineo
Michael Garabedian
Colleen Brennan
Shawn Ciecko
Vito Alamia Jr
Rajesh Patel
Sala Abdalla
Mehul Mehta
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/19/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.