Madhumitha Ardhanari is a 2019-20 Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity at the International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics. She has worked as a sustainability strategist and futures researcher at Forum for the Future, and has five years of experience coaching businesses and organisations to adapt to long-term sustainability challenges. Until six months ago, I didn’t care much

Sabine Garbarino is an independent gender and inclusion consultant specialising in economic development programming. I have a confession: I’ve recently banned colleagues at a private sector development programme in Liberia from using the term empowerment or women’s economic empowerment or WEE.  Here is why (and it’s not just my personal dislike of an unfortunate abbreviation):  Language matters Over the last years, I’ve noticed

‘Whiteness’ is often claimed through distancing oneself from what is not considered ‘white’. NGOs in Kosovo, a Muslim majority country, for instance aspire to ‘Whiteness’ by denying Muslimness. Adem Ferizaj is a Balkan essayist writing about the region’s political and cultural issues. The Balkan region is often left out when it comes to debates about ‘development’ or ‘aid’, even though

Wangũi wa Kamonji is an independent researcher, dancer, writer and facilitator centering Africa, ancestrality and the Earth in her work. She is based in Kenya and is a fellow at the Climate and Environmental Justice Media program with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund in partnership with OpenGlobalRights. This piece was published as part of this partnership, by OpenGlobalRights. Sabella Kaguna

By Teniola Tayo Before I came to study for a Masters in International Development at the London School of Economics in September 2019, I had never been to Europe – or to any part of the Western world for that matter. The “Global North”, if you like. However, I never thought that the fact that I had lived the entire

Vanessa Daza Castillo is a young Colombian lawyer working as an environmental justice researcher at Dejusticia, a human rights think tank, and a fellow at the Climate and Environmental Justice Media program with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund in partnership with OpenGlobalRights. This piece was published as part of this partnership, by OpenGlobalRights. Social media and school striking are not the

As discussions of the decolonization of academia gain momentum, Duncan Omanga interviews Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, research professor and director for scholarship in the Department of Leadership and Transformation in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa. These are extracts from a longer (3,000 word) piece published on the SSRC blog. If you have time, we urge

Beatrice Tulagan is the founder of Climate Stories Philippines, a media non-profit aiming to humanize the climate crisis through stories of resistance and survival. She is also the East Asia Field Organizer of 350.org and a fellow at the Climate and Environmental Justice Media program with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund in partnership with OpenGlobalRights. This piece was published as part

Weeks after the climate change conference in Madrid (COP25) and starting the new year with a mix of fear and anticipation, it is a fitting time to think of those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. Particularly, those without a place to live: the homeless. Below is the transcript of an interview with Rajendra Kumar,

On Wednesday, we republished this timely thought piece by Deborah Doane, which interrogates the power held by large NGOs and calls for a shift of power. The article clearly hit a nerve. Questions around #ShiftingThePower bring up enormous systemic (and existential) considerations that pose direct challenges not only to the structures we operate in, but also to our own behaviors.

Deborah Doane opens up a provocative and necessary discussion around the power held by INGOs, and how we can shift it. Deborah Doane is a Partner at Rights CoLab, and a writer and consultant working with civil society and philanthropy. She is steering a project on reimagining the INGO. This piece was originally published on OpenDemocracy’s Transformation series. “Shifting power

Dear readers/listeners, Please tell us what you think about From Poverty to Power on our new reader survey. We would really appreciate you clicking on it! (Two minutes of your time once every few years is all we’re asking). It’s particularly important because there have been a few changes this year – notably Maria Faciolince running the #PowerShifts project to highlight more work and ideas around ‘development’