AVA’s model is built around flagship summits.

But:

• Expansion into new geographies (including first-time delivery in India and Canada) brought new operational and cultural complexity
• Events were being outsourced externally, despite being core to the organisation’s mission
• Delivery was happening across multiple regions and partners, without a single internal centre of gravity

And, as a non-profit organisation:

• Every decision had to be made with careful stewardship of resources

The question wasn’t just how to deliver great events — It was how to do so in a way that was coherent, cost-effective, and sustainable long-term.

We have supported AVA International across both delivery and strategic direction.

This included:

• Delivering AVA Summit Los Angeles, AVA Summit India and AVA Summit Toronto
(their first-ever convening in both India & Canada)
• Advising on expansion into additional new geographies, including Thailand and Argentina
• Supporting partnerships and collaboration across stakeholders
• Bringing structure, systems, and clarity to how their events operate as a portfolio, not just standalone moments

But just as importantly:

• Acting as a trusted advisor, helping the team step back and ask what would actually serve the organisation best

At a certain point, the answer became clear: it didn’t make sense for AVA to keep outsourcing this work. Events are central to what they do. And as a non-profit, every dollar matters. So we told them.

We advised AVA International to:

• Bring event delivery in-house
• Hire an internal event lead
• Build institutional knowledge across all regions, rather than splitting it across external partners

While it wasn’t in our commercial interest, it was the right call. Acting with integrity is core to our mission and work.

AVA International is now:

• Transitioning to an in-house event model, with a dedicated internal lead
• Better positioned to deliver across all regions, including those we were never involved in
• Building stronger internal systems, processes, and consistency across their global portfolio

We are continuing to support:

• A careful handover to their new internal event manager (welcome, Alexandra!)
• Ongoing advisory as they scale this new structure

We’re genuinely excited to see what they do next.

For us, this is what success looks like: not dependency, but capability.

“Camlin has become an invaluable partner in helping AVA International navigate collaborations, new geographies, and the strategic growth of our events. Their thoughtful guidance, experience, and deep alignment with our mission have helped us bring our communities together with confidence.

What stands out most is their commitment to what is best for our organisation: At a key moment in our partnership, Camlin encouraged us to build this capability in-house and supported a careful transition so that knowledge remains within AVA as we scale.”

— Julia Reinelt, Executive Director, AVA International

Because we’re not trying to hold onto work. We’re committed to doing the right thing.

That means:

• Giving clear, honest advice, even if it’s not in our commercial interest
• Thinking about how organisations and communities scale, not just how projects get delivered
• Building systems, not dependency
• Acting as a partner who is genuinely aligned with the mission

If you’re building something that matters — and need a strategy to deliver this — we’d love to work with you.