Bringing people together to question assumptions, think deeply, test ideas, and pursue social justice

Root Change was founded in 2009 to boldly explore new ways to catalyze inclusive, equitable, and community-owned change. With partner organizations, we sought to co-create a pattern-breaking approach to systemic social change. The model we envisioned would elevate the knowledge, assets, and ties among neighbors without diminishing their agency or pride. 

Our voyage of discovery has, in the ensuing years, led us to ask questions about everything while crafting a light and flexible organizational footprint. Along with our partners, we have tested and learned our way into many exciting discoveries while connecting to remarkable changemakers.

One of our earliest breakthroughs came in 2009 when Root Change introduced Capacity 2.0 to the social change community. This pioneering framework redefined capacity strengthening by emphasizing local ownership, adaptability, and an ecosystem perspective. In 2022, USAID adopted a Local Capacity Strengthening Policy that reflected our Capacity 2.0 work, enabling Root Change to have a significant impact on global development practices.

From our inception, we recognized that technical and methodological breakthroughs have the power to change mindsets and everyday practices. Innovation became our sweet spot. We introduced dynamic network analysis to the social change sector through Pando, a tool that enabled organizations to visualize social networks and enhance the impact of collaborative efforts. Today, Pando is an essential platform for many groups seeking to foster inclusive and high-impact social change.

In 2014, recognizing the power of collective action, we developed the Cluster-Anchor Collective Impact Model and successfully applied it in Nigeria. A post-program evaluation highlighted the model’s significant impact. Critical policy reforms were introduced, organizational capacities were enhanced, and vulnerable individuals benefited from new opportunities. Civil society organizations involved in clusters subsequently attracted new institutional donors and became sustainable. Lessons from this work were integrated into the USAID Local Capacity Strengthening Policy and disseminated through a guide for USAID Missions.

We are proud to be an early ally of the Shift the Power Movement. In 2016, we participated in the Movement’s inaugural conference and, using our Pando platform, mapped its emerging ecosystem. Today, Shift the Power is setting a new agenda for social change that closely aligns with our vision of inclusive, equitable, and community-led development.

Our innovations build on and enrich one another. For example, we launched a social labs initiative in Malawi in 2017 that complemented our Capacity 2.0 work. The labs advanced local systems strengthening by supporting lean experimentation and action research to tackle complex community challenges. Local stakeholders design, test, and adapt solutions strategies in short implementation cycles. More recently, Root Change introduced social labs in the US where extreme bipolarization is threatening democracy, and in Cambodia, where labs foster youth leadership in local development.

In 2017, we became a boundaryless organization by extending our activities into the US. This transition reflected our recognition that extreme poverty, inequity, and social fragmentation exist across the globe. Today, democracy strengthening and community power initiatives in the US constitute half our program portfolio. This reorientation demonstrates that our approaches to inclusive development and community resilience have global relevance.

Exciting ideas are everywhere, which is why we don’t try to build all our technologies and methodologies in-house. We also support the ideas of incredible changemakers and amplify their impact. For example, we have partnered with Mauricio Miller, the MacArthur Genius and Family Independence Initiative founder, whose work redefined the narrative about low-income families in the United States. Together with Mauricio, Root Change launched the Community Independence Initiative, a peer-to-peer change model that is now operating in 12 countries. 

Root Change is a vibrant, pro-equity social change laboratory, testing new ideas and leveraging learning from others to foster far-reaching change. As practitioners and action researchers, our team is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible. We suspect you have seen traces of our work in learning summits, capacity assessment methodologies, service provider marketplaces, collective impact efforts, decision markets for social ventures, and even our latest initiatives using artificial intelligence to support inclusive programming. As activists, social justice principles influence our daily work. If our story resonates with you, we invite you to join us in challenging deeply held assumptions about how we catalyze systemic change and rethink the way we, as neighbors and peers, support each other in common cause.