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Addink de Graaf, Book Review   34 

 

Book Review 

 

Strong Together: Building Partnerships Across Cultures in 

an Age of Distrust 
 

by Andrea Nelson Trice 

 
Reviewed by Roxanne Addink de Graaf 

 

 

 
 

Salt Desert Media 2024. $20.00. 

 

Why do cross-cultural partnerships and businesses 

often fail? How and why do Americans and Majority 

World leaders differ in their approach to building social 

enterprises? What are the most beneficial ways in which 

Westerners can engage with the Majority World? How 

do we build bridges in an era of growing distrust? 

Andrea Nelson Trice’s Strong Together: Building 

Partnerships Across Cultures in an Age of Distrust 

examines these questions and seeks to equip readers 

with ways to unlock the potential of international 

partnerships. Beyond Nelson Trice’s expertise in 

cultural and organizational dynamics, the insights 

presented in Strong Together emerge from interviews 

with ninety Majority World and US American leaders 

working in cross-cultural social enterprises and 

international development organizations. The result is 

both a cautionary tale and a call to action to be more 

intentional when building partnerships across cultures.  

We live in a world in which technology allows 

increasing connectivity, yet we are witnessing growing 

divides within and across nations. As Nelson Trice 

points out in the title, we are living in an “Age of 

Distrust.” Within the US, a focus of growing distrust is 

often associated with government interventions, As 

Nelson Trice points out, “only 20% of Americans 

believe the government can be trusted to do what is 

right” (36). Globally, this distrust has included 

international development efforts, especially when 

involving government interventions, big aid packages, 

traditional charities, and global North to South 

interventions (a critique famously brought to the 

forefront in Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid in 2009). What 

has risen from the ashes of this critique of big 

government and aid is an increasing awareness of the 

essential role of market-based solutions to global 

challenges, and of the need for local ownership and 

leadership in these solutions.  The result? “It is 

estimated that 8% of the U.S. population is involved in 

social start-ups” (36). 

In Strong Together, Nelson Trice recognizes and 

celebrates this growing investment in market-based 

social enterprise solutions, and the increasing 

integration of Majority World leaders in solutions to the 

complex global challenges of our time. She also 

recognizes the risk of repeating mistakes of the past, like 

culture- and power-blind approaches to cross-cultural 

partnerships, in this growing enthusiasm for social 

enterprises. What she presents in Strong Together is an 

approach that does not shy away from building bridges, 

businesses, and partnerships across cultures, but one 

that builds awareness of what is required to do so 

effectively. 

In part one, Nelson Trice identifies some often-

unrecognized cultural undercurrents that can 

undermine cross-cultural ventures. Using real-world 

examples and well-established frameworks, Nelson 

Trice helps readers recognize common cultural 

differences and how to leverage them as unique 

strengths in partnerships.  One example she shares is 

the differing view of achievement. “Americans generally 

thrive on competition and define success by what we 

have achieved” (71), she argues, while James Owolabi 

provides the contrast; “In Non-Western culture you 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 6(1),  Summer 2024 

Addink de Graaf, Book Review   35 

 

don’t get things done by working with data. You work 

through people, through relationships” (71). 

Nelson Trice’s examples and insights of cultural 

differences resonate with my twenty years of work with 

Partners Worldwide, a faith-based organization that 

builds partnerships with business volunteers and 

entrepreneurs from across the globe, working together 

towards a world without poverty. I have witnessed real 

world examples of every cross-cultural difference 

highlighted in Strong Together, representing both the 

challenges and complementary strengths, synergy, and 

impacts that can result from partnering across cultures.  

Still, one question that arose as I read this section and 

reflected on the dynamics of the global team I work with 

is if the cultural differences identified are shifting or 

merging with younger generations. With increasing 

exposure to global media, connectivity and the resulting 

cross-pollination of ideas and values, are the cultural 

differences less prominent with social entrepreneurs in 

their 20s working across cultures? This could be a topic 

for Nelson Trice’s to dive into for her next book. 

In part two, Nelson Trice unpacks the relationship 

between cultural values and the problems we seek to 

solve through enterprise. As she points out, “Differing 

problem definitions often lead to friction and power 

struggles between Americans and those they are trying 

to help” (283). She asserts that US Americans tend to 

define problems in more material terms, with an 

urgency to scale, while those from the Majority World 

more often mention empowering individuals and 

communities “by building hope, respect and trust” 

(283). These differing perspectives often result in points 

of friction. Among the seven common friction points 

Nelson Trice identifies, the “primacy of innovation vs. 

restoration” (142), stands out as a fresh and relevant 

insight.  US Americans embrace innovation and have a 

high tolerance for the inherent change that results, 

whereas the Majority World values more highly the 

relational threads that are essential for resilient, 

restorative communities, threads that can be severed in 

the midst of fast-paced innovation. 

In part three, Nelson Trice shares five case studies 

of enterprises that have successfully partnered across 

cultures. The cases vary from a US American-initiated 

water enterprise to a Majority World-led microfinance 

entity.  Each example utilizes Majority World and US 

American leadership, illustrating the need for, and 

benefit of, recognizing the strengths and limitations of 

each partner in cross-culture ventures. Nelson Trice 

points out that the leaders in these case studies of 

success made three common assumptions: 1) They 

recognized their own limitations; 2) They recognized 

the importance of the community systems that 

surrounded their Majority World staff and clients; and 

3) They emphasized empowerment in their enterprises. 

One discerns these assumptions in the words of Alice 

Grau, the Creative Director of Global Mamas in 

Ghana, when she says “We focus on the needs of our 

employees and what they are requesting…. We care for 

them in community” (209). 

Instead of highlighting financial accomplishments 

or quantifiable impacts of these successful enterprises, 

Nelson Trice chooses to define and illustrate “success” 

from a more Majority World perspective, focusing on 

enterprises that shared power and that local 

communities embraced, which led to the desired 

impact. After identifying common traits of successful 

cross-culture ventures, Nelson Trice goes on to identify 

common impediments to successful US American-

Majority World partnerships, including the common 

desire among social entrepreneurs to be heroes, a 

common stumbling block to building enterprises that 

sustain impact. 

When faced with the plethora of challenges of 

partnering across cultures, Nelson Trice concludes 

people in the Global North have three choices; go 

home, build alone, or build with others (248). Not 

surprisingly, she recommends the third option, arguing 

that the path of building with others involves the 

“challenge of operating from a place of significant 

discomfort, but from a place that also offers 

tremendous opportunity” (249). She advocates that 

building with others, while risky and time consuming, 

offers three significant opportunities: 1) To build 

something bigger and better than anyone alone could 

build; 2) To release creativity and empower vulnerable 

people; and 3) To help everyone flourish (254). 

With sound research and engaging examples, 

Andrea Nelson Trice reminds us of the many 

roadblocks to strong cross-cultural partnerships, while 

also affirming the need for the important work of 

bridging divides and merging our diverse strengths and 

perspectives. To facilitate dialogue and reflection on all 

these important ideas, she includes provocative 

questions at the end of each chapter. Altogether, Strong 

Together is a vital resource for development 

practitioners, social entrepreneurs, impact investors, 

and anyone studying or engaged in cross-cultural teams, 

businesses, or partnerships who want to work together 

for sustained impact. While the title and cover may not 

stand out to the business-minded crowd (there is no 

mention of business or enterprise on the front cover), 

this is a book that everyone involved in business 

enterprises across cultures should read.  So much so, 

that I am adding this book to the essential reading list 

for all Partners Worldwide staff and volunteers.   

Strong Together adds cultural insights and new 

perspectives to the market-based partnership stories in 

My Business, My Mission: Fighting Poverty through 

Partnerships (Seebeck and Stoner 2009), which 

highlights the highs and lows of the first decade of 

Partners Worldwide.  Strong Together also makes a 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 6(1),  Summer 2024 

Addink de Graaf, Book Review   36 

 

great companion to a book on our current reading list, 

The Culture Map, by Erin Meyer (2014), which focuses 

exclusively on, and thus is able to go deeper into, the 

impact of culture on business.  The Culture Map also 

builds on several of the cultural differences highlighted 

in Strong Together, offering, for example, practical 

suggestions for working in teams that combine high-

context and low-context cultures.  

Though Nelson Trice is herself a person of faith, 

Strong Together is not targeted exclusively to Christian 

audiences as it carefully avoids language that might 

resonate only with Christians. That said, she 

acknowledges the role and importance of faith for many 

people in the Majority World and refers to the Torah’s 

framework of an integrated vision of a flourishing 

society as a common language of purpose that spans 

Jewish, Muslim, and Christian cultures (See figure 1). 

We also see elements of the biblical concept of Shalom 

clearly reflected in this book through her call to listen 

to our neighbors, acknowledge each other’s strengths, 

share power, respect differences, and seek flourishing 

for all. 

Figure 1: Visual of an Integrated Society in the Torah 

(151) 

 

Nelson Trice provides insights that go beyond 

strong cross-cultural partnerships and impactful social 

enterprises; the insights from her work can help build 

restorative relationships that bridge divides, in the US 

and across the globe, an essential task as we seek to 

bring God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven in this age 

of distrust. 

 

 

References 
Addink de Graaf, Roxanne. 2013. Business as Mission 

and the End of Poverty: BAM at the Base of the 

Pyramid. https://bamglobal.org/wp-

content/uploads/2015/12/BMTT-IG-Base-of-

Pyramid-Final-Report-October-2013.pdf  

Meyer, Erin. 2014. Culture Map: Breaking through 

Invisible Boundaries of Global Business. Public 

Affairs Books. 

Moyo, Dambisa. 2009. Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not 

Working and How There is a Better Way for 

Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

Seebeck, Doug and Timothy Stoner. 2009. My 

Business, My Mission: Fighting Poverty through 

Partnerships. Grand Rapids: Faith Alive 

Christian Resources. 

 
 

 

 

Roxanne Addink de Graaf is the Director of Strategy 

and Impact at Partners Worldwide in Grand 

Rapids, Michigan, where she has worked for the last 

two decades on global partnerships with local 

institutions and business leaders who are faithfully 

pursuing flourishing for all. She was the project 

manager for My Business, My Mission: Fighting 

Poverty through Partnerships (Seebeck and Stoner 

2009) and lead author of Business as Mission and 

the End of Poverty: BAM at the Base of the 

Pyramid (Addink de Graaf 2013). She recently 

finished a 2-year research and pilot project, funded 

by the Templeton Foundation, on “entrepreneurial 

grit.” This project studies factors of business 

resilience, focusing on enterprises in the Majority 

World (see 

https://www.partnersworldwide.org/2024/06/26/grit-

and-resiliency-what-keeps-entrepreneurs-going-in-

tough-times). 

 

Author email: roxanned@partnersworldwide.org  
 

 

 

Government

Finance

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Justice

Property

Community

Welfare

Work/Rest

https://bamglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BMTT-IG-Base-of-Pyramid-Final-Report-October-2013.pdf
https://bamglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BMTT-IG-Base-of-Pyramid-Final-Report-October-2013.pdf
https://bamglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BMTT-IG-Base-of-Pyramid-Final-Report-October-2013.pdf
https://www.partnersworldwide.org/2024/06/26/grit-and-resiliency-what-keeps-entrepreneurs-going-in-tough-times
https://www.partnersworldwide.org/2024/06/26/grit-and-resiliency-what-keeps-entrepreneurs-going-in-tough-times
https://www.partnersworldwide.org/2024/06/26/grit-and-resiliency-what-keeps-entrepreneurs-going-in-tough-times
mailto:roxanned@partnersworldwide.org

