From curiosity to facility: how responsive action built an institution

When ~$50 billion was wiped from global development ledgers last year, the existing gap between powerholders and doers yawned open. People, organizations, institutional memory, and hard-fought civic gains were at risk of falling into the maw. It was also proving difficult to find up-to-date information in what became a fast-changing situation. Stronger together: #SharedStrengthCollective Accountability Lab responded with #SharedStrengthCollective – an initiative first launched by Accountability Lab Nepal, which opened its doors to CSOs and NGOs in Kathmandu to  jointly navigate challenges as a result of US government aid cuts. In Washington DC, #SharedStrengthCollective meant gathering partners and friends for [...]

2026-04-08T20:03:52+00:008th April 2026|

Network as institution: Why ending projects well is crucial to sustaining democracy, rights and governance work

When funding shrinks, and the civic space it had pushed open strains and threatens to snap shut, it is the lattice of enduring networks that keeps it propped open.  Longer term democracy, rights and governance funding is a rare thing. Five-year long, uninterrupted funding is rarer still. The long duration of the funding creates the space to design programs with intention and even allows for experimentation, failure and redirection from lessons learned. It provides the time to build the deep, trust-based relationships required for real behavioral and systems change.  Originally funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), [...]

2026-03-30T15:00:38+00:0030th March 2026|

AL is hiring a Data and Research Associate

Position Title: Data and Research Associate (Business Development & Civic Strength Partners Implementation) Location: Remote or hybrid (preferably in a country where Accountability Lab operates) Reports to: Global Head of Development (matrix report to Civil Strength Partners Lead) Type: Full-time, 12-month renewable contract About Accountability Lab Accountability Lab (AL) is a global translocal network that supports active citizens, responsible leaders, and accountable institutions. We work across 10 countries to build creative, sustainable, and people-centred tools for accountability, integrity, and open governance. Our initiatives - such as Integrity Icon, Civic Action Teams (CivActs), and Civic Strength Partners (CSP) - amplify local [...]

2025-12-17T08:57:30+00:0017th December 2025|

The future of governance support depends on what we choose to see

Rebalancing toward the relationships, translation work, and bilingual soft infrastructure that make democratic practice possible.   Across conversations with practitioners, funders, researchers, and colleagues working on democracy, governance and civic space, the same diagnosis keeps surfacing. It’s no longer tentative; it’s becoming a quiet consensus: We need to rebalance away from technocratic prescriptions and toward supporting the connective, coalition-building work that keeps societies stitched together. This is not nostalgia for a pre-aid freeze era, nor a push for a new narrative cycle. It is an invitation to see the soft infrastructure and the people—invisible weavers—who maintain civic space in motion [...]

2025-12-10T10:53:27+00:0010th December 2025|

Introducing our new Country Director in Mali

Accountability Lab Mali is announcing a leadership transition as our current Country Director, Doussouba Konaté, steps down from her role. After several years of consistent service to a growing team, Ms. Konaté is passing the responsibilities to Deputy Director Habibou Diaou. Ms. Konaté joined Accountability Lab in 2018 and has made significant contributions to the development and influence of the organization in Mali and the surrounding region. Under her leadership, AL Mali has strengthened its foundations, diversified its partnerships, and enhanced efforts to promote integrity and citizen participation through inclusive initiatives. She will officially step down on November 14, 2025, [...]

2025-11-14T06:38:36+00:0014th November 2025|

The Invisible Weaver’s Wisdom: Re-Stitching Philanthropy’s Approach for Enduring Resilience

All over the world, the civic infrastructure hasn’t collapsed completely. It’s being re-stitched together, not only by organizations and movements scrambling to adapt, but by people who have relational capital and are already adapting. Accountability Lab Senior Fellow Florencia Guerzovich calls them invisible weavers. Invisible weavers aren’t a new category on your grantee list. They’re the ones making your existing investments work better — and go further. They’re the ones connecting the dots when formal systems falter and when frameworks show cracks. They move between sectors, roles and vocabularies: donor to NGO, movement to ministry, global north to rural community. [...]

2025-09-12T12:55:17+00:0012th September 2025|

Tackling Illicit Finance: AL shaping the agenda at Wilton Park

Our co-CEO Blair Glencorse was invited by the UK Government to contribute to the Wilton Park discussions, helping to shape the agenda for the upcoming Foreign Secretary's Countering Illicit Finance Summit. Over two days, he worked alongside leading experts in anti-corruption and finance, as well as key UK decision-makers, to address one of the most pervasive threats to the global political system. The challenge is immense. Despite decades of anti-money laundering reforms, less than 1% of criminal proceeds laundered through the financial system are seized. The human impact is devastating, with illicit financial flows draining over $90 billion annually from [...]

2025-09-17T09:54:08+00:0012th September 2025|

Rethinking climate action at the community level

Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is felt, visible and personal in many ways. From unpredictable rainfall patterns leading to flash floods destroying lives and livelihoods, to infrastructure damage and unbearable heat, climate change is reshaping our lives in ways that make it difficult to ignore. Nepal’s September 2024 flash flood on the Roshi river left a lasting impact. The Government of Nepal reported at least 224 deaths, 158 injuries, 28 missing persons. Around 13,300 people required rescue, while at least 1,200 houses were destroyed or damaged. These victims lost not only life and property this time [...]

Communications Consultant Opportunity

Civic Strength Partners (CSP) is a partnership-matching service and professional support infrastructure aimed at assisting organizations navigating transitions. From partnerships to mergers and legacy planning, we help demystify the processes and guide organizations as they prepare for the next steps. CSP is a partnership among three organizations: Accountability Lab, Development Gateway: An IREX Venture, and Digital Public. Together, we help social change organizations plan strategically for succession, mergers, partnerships, and protection of assets. Our goal is to preserve the lessons, tools, and relationships that sustain the mission and impact of development organizations globally. The Elevator Pitch The Communications Consultant will [...]

2025-08-05T09:05:52+00:0029th July 2025|

Launching a partnership matching service for nonprofits

While a lot of us have talked about the potential, value, and - in some cases - need for more mergers and acquisitions in the non-profit space, recent events have made it clear: now is the time. Immediately after recent US aid cuts, our team circulated a survey to civil society and international development organizations - and the resulting data, from more than 700 organizations, suggests that nearly 60% of organizations may close within the next 6 months. Given the recent stop work orders, contract and grant cancellations, and cascading effects of international civil society support shifts, a large number [...]

2025-04-10T11:45:20+00:0027th March 2025|
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