If it’s one thing the past couple of months have shown the development sector it’s the necessity of community.  As civil society organizations working to build the world back better, we can’t do it on our own. It takes a village, and we have to be the villagers who make the village possible.

I had the privilege of visiting my colleagues at Accountability Lab Nepal who haven’t cracked the village code as much as they live it. I also chatted with Program Manager Prekkshya Bimali about what it takes to be a home for governance champions and a base for sustainable change.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of what I was lucky enough to learn:

Don’t be jealous
In what was already a competitive fundraising environment before 24 January, conventional wisdom might encourage battening down the hatches and taking recipes to our graves. Conventional wisdom might also not be as successful at building truly resilient networks that survive shocks over time. Over the past twelve years Country Director and South Asia Lead Narayan Adhikari and his team have established Accountability Lab Nepal as a mentoring, support, and safe space for changemakers across the CSO network in the country. Whether they’re participants in formal Accountability Lab programming or not, governance champions have held meetings, recorded podcasts and brought ideas to be brainstormed with staff and each other at the Lab’s Kathmandu offices. It was there that AL Nepal established the first South Asian OpenGov Hub in Kathmandu in 2016 – a co-working space for all stakeholders who want to contribute positively towards the open government movement in Nepal.

Cultivate your network
Whether it’s celebrating as accountability incubator alumni grow their initiatives or Integrity Icons hit milestones in their careers, the team remains well informed about the progress of their people. Surendra Koirala, a 2018 accountability incubator participant or ‘accountapreneur’,  developed a cloud-based mobile app that facilitates direct communication between community members and elected representatives called “Know Your Parliamentarian”. His company Sajilo Ventures began by providing governance-enhancing software solutions for various Nepalese government departments, but has now expanded to offices in Dubai. Despite this incredible expansion, over the past seven years Surendra has mentored other young changemakers in AL Nepal’s programs and even shared advice with young social entrepreneurs on the Lab’s podcast. 

Support governance champions wherever they are
“There’s space for everyone. Whether an artist, researcher, filmmaker, from any field or background, this is where you can get your idea for change tested and get feedback,” says Prekkshya.

“We host dialogues and webinars that create space to discuss a diversity of issues from a range of sectors.”

Queering Medicine recently hosted a “Spin the Spectrum” event at the Hub – a fun, open, and safe space for LGBTQIA+ individuals to connect. The platonic ‘speed dating’ conversations were guided by questions around queer sex education and relationships.

“Even our accountapreneurs shared that this is a safe space – not just in terms of being able to use the space for convening, but also that the Accountability Lab team members are also very open to the conversations, which is how we create a safe environment for every group of people,” says Prekkshya.

During my visit we invited a cohort of young climate activists to the Lab to share their experiences. 

They were all participants in a South Asian Climate Tank Accelerator by Seeds of Peace and Student Society for Climate Change Awareness. The Nepal teams were being mentored by AL Country Director Narayan Adhikari as part of a year-long program duri

ng which participants sharpen their climate solution ideas. The program culminated in a competition for a fully-funded fellowship in the United States and seed funding to implement their projects. 

While the teams had met each other, it had only been in the context of competition. From working to combat the Urban Heat Island(UHI) effect by incorporating vegetation into urban architecture like the Grevolution team, to developing the skills of motivated thinkers, facing climate injustice and governance issues like Biruwa, to supporting  reduction in food waste and improved waste segregation practices like Green Café, they all had brilliant, winning initiatives. At the Lab, they met as peers in climate action where they spent an afternoon debating the relative value of advocacy versus action, sharing their frustration in convincing powerholders to take climate action seriously, and even making plans for collaboration.

“Wherever we can continue supporting young individuals, we do. It’s not a transaction kind of relationship but a continued and sustained way of keeping people in the loop and supporting in any way we can,” says Prekkshya. 

Create space for play and creativity
This intentional creation of space is not limited to participants, but is a value that is actively inculcated in the way the team operates. There is a culture of openness where anyone on staff, regardless of position in the organization, can pitch their ideas and get constructive feedback from the rest of the team. 

“We had a one week long session called Sky is the Limit. So every day we would gather around 9:30 for an hour and just talk about ideas. And these were not necessarily for Accountability Lab’s value in the process. We just talked about ‘what is the thing that you want to do’,” says Prekkshya.

Even so, this process led to the team having a bank of ideas to draw from when there are opportunities for project proposals which reduces the pressure of having to come up with compelling pitches under tight deadlines. These scheduled brainstorms are just one of a number of opportunities for idea sharing. Others include team retreats, reflection sessions and even a sarcastically titled award for the best “Dream Project” – a project that is so out there that it could be pitched as a joke and impossible to implement.

“It’s encouraging for all the junior staff as well to have this outlet. So we try to do it on a frequent basis.”

To build a culture in which people feel safe and comfortable enough to share half-baked ideas or sparks of inspiration is no small thing. It makes the Lab a magnet for those who have the urge for change but need the scaffolding for their ideas. It’s what keeps partners and alumni coming back to the place their visions were brought to life – to pass on the support and trusted feedback they benefited from. To be the villager the village needs.

Samina Anwary