Our
Work
Over the past fifteen years, we have worked in over 25 countries to help organizations and programs monitor, evaluate, and learn from their work; refine their strategies and adaptively manage complex initiatives to achieve greater impact; build the capacity of local government and host country partners; and scale up their impact through scoping and winning new business.
Evaluating and reframing social inclusion programming in Pakistan.
In 2016, we provided end-to-end evaluation services for a social inclusion program in Pakistan including developing the mixed-methods methodology, training over 50 enumerators, managing fieldwork, and leading the analysis. Based on our recommendations, the client then asked us to help refine their strategy, which was done collaboratively with input from program staff, host-country partners, and communities. The new strategy provided stakeholders with greater clarity on program design, objectives, and the overall theory of change. Under this new framework, the program successfully improved community cohesion between diverse ethnic and religious groups within its programming geographies and resolved numerous communal conflicts.
Adaptively managing community development grants in northern Mozambique.
Northern Mozambique has been affected by a violent insurgency since 2017. From 2021-2022, we advised a community development program working in conflict-affected areas on how to monitor, evaluate, and adaptively manage their programs in response to the rapidly changing conflict context. We developed and operationalized a monitoring and evaluation system for their small grant programs; facilitated over 10 learning sessions with the client, program staff, and Mozambican community leaders; and established learning practices and feedback loops to ensure that the program remained agile and responsive to community needs. As a result, the program was able to safely deliver health services to over 18,000 refugee women and children; convene over 1200 dialogues between citizens and local government representatives to discuss community needs; and train over 2000 youth in leadership and livelihood skills.
Conducting foundational research to design contextually appropriate programming.
In late 2024, we were asked to conduct a context analysis for a water and sanitation program in a conflict-affected area of northern Uganda. The donor and Ugandan subject matter experts wanted to ensure that their program was truly driven by the communities in the area, their priorities and specific cultures, and that it also did not create or exacerbate conflict. We developed a methodology and a set of research tools, and worked with a diverse set of researchers from the different communities in the area to collect, analyze, and synthesize the data. By identifying key partners and conflict flashpoints, we were able to help refine programming to ensure it maximized potential for impact while adhering to Do No Harm approaches.
Facilitating strategy reframing conversations for a youth empowerment program.
In 2023, we helped our client reformulate their strategic framework for a youth empowerment program in the face of reduced resources and competing priorities. Through a series of facilitated discussions between the donor and program leadership, we were able to refine their strategy to focus on a set of specific, measurable objectives within their manageable interest. We then developed an evaluable theory of change, performance indicators, a flexible and learning-focused performance monitoring plan, and a complementary system and set of assessment and data management tools and processes to operationalize that plan. We then held a series of interactive trainings and workshops for the program team and partners so they were working in lockstep. The donor was extremely satisfied with the redesign and the program was recognized for its best-in-class performance monitoring and adaptive management practices.
Building capacity for organizations, local government, and individuals.
We have been designing and leading trainings for institutions and organizations for fifteen years. Whether it's a training in a technical topic, for new employees, to accompany change management initiatives, for enumerators and researchers, or in grant design and proposal development, we've done it. Our training style is interactive, comprehensive, and can be tailored toward a variety of learning types, language and cultural backgrounds, and education levels. We can also developing training-of-trainer modules to sustainably build capacity within organizations to manage their own trainings moving forward.
Scaling up impact through business development.
Since 2014, we have been scoping new business opportunities, conducting foundational research, and writing grants and proposals. We have proven tools and approaches to manage and craft proposals and grants from start to finish, and can tailor them for specific organizations' needs. Over the years, we have successfully helped organizations win over $100 million in new business in sectors including local governance, education, monitoring and evaluation, research, youth empowerment, climate-smart agriculture, and conservation.