What We Do

Development without Dependency®

Traditionally, NGOs have stepped in to provide aid to marginalized communities. While helpful at times, far too often this aid leaves populations dependent on outside directives and leadership. This dynamic of dependency fails to foster local ownership over development efforts. Communities are unable to strengthen their own capacity and left ill-equipped to manage and maintain the efforts, jeopardizing the very sustainability of those efforts.

our mission

Our mission is to support and promote community-led development (CLD). We accompany local partners as they improve quality of life in their communities, and we advocate for aid efforts to center local knowledge, resources, and actions.

our vision

We believe in a world in which communities decide their own future and manage their own development.

We work with local groups experts & academics donors & funders the diaspora Decision makers global advocates

Previous slide

Next slide

Our local partners

Rasin Devlopman

Haiti

Gwoup Konbit

Haiti

Our Principles of Practice

1. We develop long-term partnerships with effective locally led organizations that share our commitment to sustainable, community-led development.

We do not implement projects; our local partners do.

We do not dictate or decide what projects our partners implement.

Our long-term relationships allow us to build trust, learn from one another, and deepen our impact.

Our grants are multi-year and unrestricted.

We prioritize flexibility and adaptability of funding, which can respond to the changing needs and circumstances of a community.

Our support is holistic and has no “sectoral focus” (e.g. health or education), so that the true needs and top priorities of a community always come first.

Our reporting requirements adapt to the capacity of our partners; we accept reports and documents in our partners’ native languages and in the format best suited to their context.

We encourage and help our partners secure direct funding from other sources, serving as a fiscal sponsor where necessary.

2. We provide funding that responds to the needs and preferences of our local partners.

3. We invest in the ongoing strengthening of our local partners’ organizational capacity.

We listen to our partners and help identify strategic gaps

We find and fund opportunities for technical support.

We bring our partners together to exchange knowledge and strengthen our collective effectiveness

We seek out, participate in, and organize activities that allow us to listen to and learn from experts, majority world leaders, and global networks.

We amplify the voices of our partners, sharing stories and learned experiences with strategic audiences.

We collect and create materials that serve as an evidence base for community-led development and Development without Dependency®.

4. We advocate for the global aid ecosystem to shift power and resources to local actors.

Help us fight for a development that is more sustainable and respectful.