News & Ideas

June 13, 2017

citiesRISE featured at Smart Cities NYC ’17

GDI-incubated mental health initiative citiesRISE was featured on a panel at Smart Cities NYC ’17. Moitreyee Sinha, CEO of citiesRISE and former GDI director, joined several health experts on stage to address the intersection of mental health and urban spaces. The panel discussed the root causes that stand in the way of healthy communities and highlighted new […]

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May 24, 2017

When and How to Shut Down a Partnership

In our landmark report, we explored whether and how to launch multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs)—often called partnerships, alliances, and other names—to address global challenges. Numerous funders we interviewed raised a question that was out of the scope of our study, yet is critical in our resource-constrained global development sector: When and how should a multi-stakeholder initiative shut […]

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May 23, 2017

Beware zombie partnerships! GDI on winding down partnerships in SSIR

Building on our study “More than the Sum of Its Parts: Making multi-stakeholder initiatives work,” GDI outlines when and how to wind down a partnership – especially in a sector with finite resources. It’s essential to think critically about when and how an MSI should wind down—especially given that the global development sector lacks resources […]

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May 17, 2017

GDI study featured in new research on MSIs for sustainable development

It’s always exciting to see our ideas bear fruit, especially when they help shape the latest global development thinking. A recent study titled “Multi-stakeholder initiatives for Sustainable Development Goals: The importance of interlocutors” features GDI’s landmark research on when multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) are the right solution to a given global development challenge, and how to design […]

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April 6, 2017

Behind the scenes at GDI: Our 2016 annual report

We are excited to release GDI’s 2016 annual report. Rather than simply summarizing our work from the year, we’ve tried to pull back the curtain on how incubation and innovation at GDI actually happen. Highlights include: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of several initiatives, including Convergence, mhNOW, and the Collaborative for Scaling Social Impact […]

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March 28, 2017

GDI on building bridges, not barriers

GDI was born to build bridges, not barriers. In our daily work designing and launching social impact initiatives, we’ve seen firsthand that progress rarely happens without collaboration and empathy. More often than not, systems change requires working closely with people and groups different from us, and pushing ourselves to understand points of view and experiences […]

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February 23, 2017

Johnson & Johnson, GDI, and Dalberg share new report on reimagining the global health convening

Fundamental shifts are changing global health as we know it, requiring diverse and disruptive groups of people from across sectors to collaborate on solutions. How can a “reimagined” convening most effectively bring these groups together to drive financing and innovation in global health? A new report titled “Reimagining the Global Health Convening: What’s Next?” inspired by […]

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February 22, 2017

Emerging Public Leaders expands PYPP model beyond Liberia

The Emerging Public Leaders (EPL), incubated by GDI, seeks to build a pan-African network of 500 young leaders in public service by 2021. Drawing on the model proven successful with the President’s Young Professionals Program of Liberia, the team hopes to create a tipping point for meritocratic and effective civil service throughout the continent. The […]

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February 16, 2017

GDI joins over 400 social impact leaders in open letter to President Trump

GDI was born to build – but we, along with over 400 other social agitators who signed an open letter to President Trump, believe in building bridges, not walls. Last week, GDI Founder + CEO Andrew Stern signed the letter on behalf of GDI. The full text is below. Dear President Trump, As leaders who […]

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November 2, 2016

Visa, Dalberg, and GDI release new report, “Small Merchants, Big Opportunity”

“Small Merchants, Big Opportunity: The Forgotten Path to Financial Inclusion” – a new report commissioned by Visa and authored by Dalberg and the Global Development Incubator – explores how micro and small merchants represent both a path to financial inclusion, as well as a huge commercial opportunity for financial service providers. Drawing on conversations with […]

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