Deep, collaborative problem-solving and decision-making lie at the heart of what we do.
So we often prefer to fly under the radar, proudly letting our work and proactive, enthusiastic way of working speak for itself.
Our client list includes public and private foundations, impact investors, INGOs, and civil society networks all working to advance human and child rights and locally-led development.
You can take a look at some examples of our published work below.
Foundations often struggle to connect what they're learning from individual grants to insights across a portfolio. Data too often remains siloed. This practice paper, developed with Fondation Botnar, explores an approach that enables more granular learning to feed into portfolio synthesis, without flattening the complexity of what's happening in each context. We introduce three techniques - theory modularity, fractals, and knitting- and share lessons from applying them across a diverse urban transformation portfolio. Click the image to read the full paper.
There is a lot of AI snake oil out there. Leaders are awash in pitches for AI solutions, but don't have the technical expertise to vet them. This assessment tool gives decision makers a structured way to evaluate AI vendors, covering everything from lock-ins, hallucinations, risk and data governance. Click the image to access the full tool.
We are four systems practice enthusiasts who have worked for many years in and with organisations to DO systems-focused learning and practice. Together we want to share experiences and explore questions, in order to support systems practice into its next phase. This series is part of us sharing our thinking and practice to date, part you sharing your experiences and questions — an invitation to be part of the conversation. Click on the image to share in these stories.
Focusing on the Open Society Foundations' Economic Justice Program, this learning brief summarises the program's internal review of its own practices and culture. It refers directly to intersectional equity and lessons learned over the course of the program.. Click on the image to read the full brief.
In this blog, Andrea Azevedo and Megan Colnar introduce a new toolkit that helps donors and grantees work together on MEL practices for widespread transformation. Click on the image to read the blog.
This journal article discusses tensions in the field of research for development evaluation, but suggests that there is cause for optimism with a growing diversity of experiences and learning across stakeholders. Click on the image to read the Open Access journal article.
Reflecting on the Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development, this learning brief explains how the program has undertaken three major adaptations. The brief discusses how nested theories of change were used as a mechanism for adaptive rigour. Click on the image to read the full brief.
