Key points

Program leaders need fresh insights that can help them scale their work.

Big-picture focus alone can overlook the critical, real-life insights from the grassroots.

Exchange of grassroots stories from dramatically diverse contexts can jolt new understanding and insights.

Stories from grassroots can spark new ideas Source: Meg Warren

By Meg A. Warren, Ph.D., and Annie Crookes, Ph.D.

Across the world, NGOs are tackling some of the most challenging and complex problems. Many situated in vastly different cultural contexts are nevertheless addressing similar issues (e.g., gender inequity, poverty, climate crisis), facing similar barriers (e.g., inadequate infrastructure, resistance), and struggling under similar resource constraints. Yet they feel isolated. They want to scal

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