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Consultants at a Crossroads in Global Development: New Research Reveals their Challenges — And Highlights Strategies for Navigating the Current Disruption
The dismantling of USAID earlier this year has had many ripple effects, including over 238,000 global jobs lost at the agency and its implementing partners. But according to development consultants Alethia Wong and Lorenz Wild, the plight of independent consultants working in global development — who are often not represented in workforce statistics — hasn't received much attention. To better understand these impacts on the consulting ecosystem, they launched a survey of independent consultants earlier this year: They share the results in this article, exploring how development consultants are pivoting to earn income and how contracting companies can support them — and sharing advice from job recruiters for consultants looking for full-time roles.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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The ABCs of Catalytic Sunsetting: How Foundations and Other Philanthropic Funders Can Exit Boldly — And Leave a Bigger Legacy
What if the best way to ensure your philanthropic legacy … was to close your doors? As Nancy Swanson-Roberts at Linked Foundation and Kusi Hornberger at Dalberg Capital argue, the world’s most pressing problems demand urgent, bold action that incremental giving over generations often can't enable. They explain why philanthropic organizations like Linked Foundation are deliberately spending down their assets within a defined timeframe to catalyze systemic change — an approach they call “catalytic sunsetting" — and share three strategies that can help any funder exit with purpose and power.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Building Smarter Data Practices in Entrepreneurship Support Ecosystems: How Entrepreneurs, Investors and Other Stakeholders Can Drive Systemic Change
Entrepreneurship support ecosystems include a diverse range of actors, from incubators and accelerators to policymakers, impact investors and other funders. But though strengthening these ecosystems is a growing priority in emerging markets, monitoring, evaluation and learning remains a persistent challenge, due in part to a lack of data sharing. Heather Esper at the William Davidson Institute and Keith Obade and Moses Waweru at Villgro Africa explore the reasons various stakeholders collect data, the obstacles that keep this data fragmented and underutilized, and the ways these ecosystems can improve their data practices.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Demystifying Impact Measurement and Management Using a Systems Lens: Four Jargon-Free Webinars from Glocal Evaluation Week 2025
Want to start collecting relevant impact data on your business — or improve your existing impact measurement and management (IMM) practices? Applying a systems lens to these efforts can offer great value, and though the concept of systems thinking can seem intimidating, it’s actually quite straightforward. The William Davidson Institute will host four free public webinars June 2-5, which will explain core principles of IMM using a systems lens. Presented in jargon-free terms, the webinars will discuss real-world applications for businesses and other organizations working in areas ranging from healthcare and energy to entrepreneurship and empowerment.
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- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise
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The Current Approach to Scaling Impact Capital isn’t Working: Why Addressing the Polycrisis Requires More ‘Impact-Native’ Capital
Impact investing must scale if it hopes to address the interconnected social and environmental problems that comprise the global polycrisis. Yet as Tripp Baird at Builders Fund explains, a substantial amount of "impact" capital flows to large asset aggregator financial institutions whose impact and ESG-branded funds include investments in unaligned or actively counter-productive assets — e.g., sustainability funds that invest in mining companies — making it virtually impossible to effect lasting change. He argues that purpose-driven investors should choose “impact-native” investment firms, which provide a real alternative to the extractive and short-term focus of traditional capital markets.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Comparing Four Last-Mile Distribution Models: Best Practices and Common Pitfalls in Reaching Rural Customers
Last-mile distributors have found innovative ways to affordably reach consumers living in underserved and/or hard-to-reach areas. As Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath, Jeanne Charbit and Joana Furquim at Hystra explain, these companies use many different last-mile distribution models, tailored to different goods and locations. They discuss the revenue and impact potential of four common models, assessing when they are most relevant, exploring their limitations and optimal conditions for success, and highlighting the key challenges and questions they face moving forward.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Don’t Underestimate Gen Z: How Youth-Led Solutions are Shaping the Future of Social Entrepreneurship
Generation Z is often labeled as distracted, anxious, lonely or under-skilled. But as George Tsiatis at the Resolution Project and Enactus Global argues, these stereotypes are unfair, and members of Gen Z often possess a unique perspective and determination that enable them to tackle complex social challenges with unprecedented ingenuity and purpose. He shares four areas where young social entrepreneurs are driving innovation and achieving measurable impact, highlighting several youth-led enterprises that are demonstrating the next generation’s approach to leveraging business for social change.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Innovating in Impact Measurement: A Tech-Driven Platform Aims to Simplify Data Collection and Reporting
Studies indicate that around 65% of social enterprises engage in some form of social impact measurement. However, as Hana Stelzerova at Impactso points out, the depth and rigor of these measurements can vary significantly, and many organizations and initiatives struggle to implement more thorough and standardized evaluation methods. She discusses the challenges of measuring impact, and explores how innovative technologies can be leveraged to revolutionize the process for organizations across the sector.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
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