Incubating the Infrastructure of Global Solidarity
This note is an invitation to dialogue with builders and partners exploring what comes next for development infrastructure beyond the donor era.
With USAID’s closure, thousands of programs have ended, resulting in real and immediate harm. Less visible—but potentially more consequential over the long term—is the collapse of the infrastructure that enabled development and global solidarity at scale.
Rather than attempting to resurrect the flawed systems of the past, we see this moment as an opportunity to build new, more effective and trustworthy models—ones that shift power, ownership, and accountability to local communities and governments.
GDI is exploring how to support the incubation of this localized infrastructure. We are interested in efforts that design for a world without donor-centered infrastructure, including:
- How value is delivered without donor-led supply chains. Approaches that rethink what is delivered, how it moves, and who is accountable—shifting toward locally owned delivery systems and stronger government leadership.
- How initiatives are financed when grants are not the backbone. Models that reconfigure incentives and cash flows through blended finance, cross-subsidization, subscription, or earned revenue.
- How coordination, learning, and accountability function without donor-funded platforms. Locally anchored data, governance, and feedback systems that replace externally imposed monitoring and reporting infrastructure.
We know we don’t have the full picture. We are eager to learn new ways of understanding and addressing the structural gaps emerging in this moment. These efforts may take many forms—product, service, or platform—what matters is their ability to function without reliance on traditional aid. This work is oriented toward system redesign, not funding replacement.
How GDI Engages
Where there is mutual interest, GDI partners with teams to incubate new organizations, platforms, or field-level infrastructure over time. This may include:
- Hands-on strategic and operational incubation over 12–36 months
- Organizational design, governance, and leadership support
- Support with talent, narrative, partnerships, and resource mobilization
- Modest seed financing
If you are actively building—or exploring how to build—new infrastructure in this context, we would welcome a conversation. Please reach out to us at reimagining@globaldevincubator.org.