The name ACDI/VOCA dates back to the 1997 merger of Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance. Both were nonprofit international economic development organizations founded by the U.S. cooperative community. The organization helped develop cooperatives around the world that reflected the merits of joint ownership, democratic governance and economic advantage. Today ACDI/VOCA is known as a nonprofit that means business. That is, it blends business and technical acumen with humanitarian concern. Having worked in 145 countries, it has established a reputation for implementing successful, large-scale projects addressing the most pressing and intractable development challenges.