What Accountability Lab’s Co-CEO model teaches us about shared leadership

As organizations confront increasing complexity and global collaboration, leadership models are evolving. At Accountability Lab, our three Co-CEOs reflect on what it takes to build a shared leadership structure. Leadership in a changing sector Leadership in the world of civil society is changing. Today’s leaders face increasing funding uncertainty, political polarization, growing operational demands, and increasingly global teams – while working hard to remain closely connected to the communities they serve. As teams become more global, partnerships grow more complex, and expectations around accountability and transparency continue to rise,  social impact sector organizations are questioning whether traditional leadership structures still [...]

2026-03-26T12:49:28+00:0026th March 2026|

When elections test democracy: Youth, digital space, and accountability across Africa

Elections across Africa are moments of both democratic possibility and democratic pressure. In a recent webinar ahead of the Global Democracy Coalition Africa Regional Forum 2026, civic leaders explored how young people are responding to these tensions – mobilizing communities, confronting digital repression, and defending democratic accountability across the continent. Elections at a critical democratic moment Across Africa, elections remain a cornerstone of democratic governance. There are moments when citizens exercise political rights, shape leadership, and hold institutions accountable. Yet they are also moments when democratic systems face heightened pressure. During electoral periods, civic space can narrow, political tensions intensify, [...]

2026-03-16T15:17:25+00:0016th March 2026|

Interview with Josh Lerner, Co-Executive Director, People Powered

In my consultations on global democracy over the past year, people repeatedly pointed to mistrust in institutions, a disconnect between elites and citizens, and the sense that democracy doesn’t deliver as key drivers of democratic erosion. Participation is often presented as the magic bullet on the assumption that more participation naturally builds trust. To dig into when participation actually builds trust and when it fails to do so, I sat down with Josh Lerner, co-director of People Powered, who is the natural person to ask about participatory democracy. How do you define participation? There are lots of definitions, and they [...]

2026-03-16T15:16:59+00:0012th March 2026|

Rebuilding Ukraine: Integrity, business, and the hard trade-offs

As Ukraine continues to navigate the realities of war and the long road toward reconstruction, questions about integrity are no longer abstract. They sit at the center of how markets function, how reconstruction funds are used, and how businesses make decisions in environments shaped by uncertainty and risk. In a recent episode of the AccountabiliTea Podcast, Sofiia Sapihura (Anti-Corruption Studies Consultant & Researcher) joined Cheri-Leigh Erasmus (Co-CEO, Accountability Lab) to unpack findings from the report, Leveraging Integrity for Ukraine’s Reconstruction: The Role of Ethical Businesses.  Drawing on interviews with companies across sectors, the research looks beyond traditional anti-corruption narratives to examine [...]

2026-02-24T10:59:11+00:0020th February 2026|
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