As Digital Nation continues to grow and scale, we are investing in the people who make that possible. Adhele Tuulas is taking charge of our ever-growing list of clients and partners as our Director of Business Development.

Over the past 6 years, Adhele has navigated the vast digital governance landscape - starting as a freelance writer and evolving into strategic roles, recently serving as Head of Sales for Data Exchange Technologies at Cybernetica. Along the way, she has built meaningful partnerships across South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Kick-starting new projects and gaining firsthand insight into how vital it is to leverage existing best practices, while tailoring digitalisation to specific contexts. This belief aligns closely with one of the core values of Digital Nation - co-creating solutions for the future together with local stakeholders who ultimately drive and own the change.

Here’s three tips Adhele would give to build long-lasting partnerships across continents and languages:

1. Build trust through consistent delivery.
Trust is earned through action—not just words. Start delivering mutual value early, even on a small scale, and build momentum from there. Demonstrating integrity by matching your words to results fuels the credibility that long-term partnerships rely on.

2. Embrace empathy and local context.
Step into your partner’s shoes. Advisors should listen more than they speak, striving to understand the environment and needs of their counterparts. Solution providers must also adapt to local realities, while beneficiaries should create space for that understanding and adaptation. Mutual understanding fosters a resilient working relationship.

3. Focus on complementary strengths.
Partnerships often form because each party brings something unique to the table—expertise, networks, resources, or local insight. Lean into these differences instead of duplicating efforts. Avoid the instinct to "go it alone" and instead build on each other’s capabilities. This not only drives efficiency but creates more impactful and scalable outcomes.

Outside work, Adhele finds balance by exploring the world and racking up miles - running, hiking or walking with her golden retriever Ross, who is as excited in taking on journeys with Adhele as we are taking on this new journey with her to build a growing network of partners across the globe.