In 2015, WeRobotics set out to reduce the power asymmetries that exist in the social good sector by measurably expanding the space for locally-led practice. Naturally, we hardly did this on our own! Quite on the contrary, we’ve been working with hundreds of proximate leaders and dozens local organizations in 35+ countries for the past 7+ years to co-create practical alternatives to systems dominated by foreign-led, top-down and techno-centric interventions. We call one such alternative the “Inclusive Networks Model”.
The success of this scalable, local-first and demand-driven model has been documented in detail, and is embodied by the Flying Labs Network, which is the first operational example of this model in action. Flying Labs are independent and locally-led knowledge hubs that combine local expertise and leadership with emerging technologies to drive locally-led action in the social good sector. The Inclusive Networks Model is now being adopted by other organizations. Thanks to this model, WeRobotics was able to transfer 42% of its revenue to local organizations in 2021. This is in contrast to the industry average of 2.1% in the aid industry that same year. Obviously, there’s more to localization than finance. To cite one example, the Inclusive Networks Model includes a dedicated transition plan. This explains why WeRobotics and Flying Labs have had their own distinct identities from Day 1.
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This blog is part of CDA’s From Where I Stand series, designed to listen to people most affected by aid as they explore and amplify their leadership experiences, stories, and lessons for the aid sector.
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