Even if you are a newbie in the humanitarian aid and development community, I'm willing to bet you've heard about cash. And, by cash, I mean the very-much-growing interest and support for providing assistance to those in need by giving them cash. The theory is simple: people in need of help, especially in situations of poverty and emergencies, know the specifics of their situation better than anyone and cash provides them the best tool to getting those needs met quickly. My guest for the 119th e...
Sep 27, 2016•32 min
You can go ahead and admit it your yourself - I won't judge, because I do it too - that its nice when you have a substantial number of people "like" or follow something you've posted on social media. For most of us, this revolves around a picture of a vacation, something the kids did, or random silliness we happened across on the street. But what if your post went viral? I mean really viral... so much so that it resulted in you receiving so much feed back that you decided to start an organizatio...
Sep 16, 2016•37 min
When an emergency happens, whether its unexpected like an earth quake, or the result of a steady build up like many of the violent conflicts we have in the world today, people scatter. They scatter from where they live to not only remove themselves from immediate harm, but then to also find and connect with those they care about. This movement presents one of the larger challenges with delivering humanitarian aid to those who need it. But what if there was a way to detect where people are going,...
Sep 06, 2016•40 min
What is it like to not have a voice? More specifically, what is it like to have a voice - a powerful, intelligent, passionate voice - but one that no one can hear? This is the case for, literally, millions of people in the world today who have stories to tell, and stories that need or should be heard, but who are not able to access mainstream media channels that we all still turn to for our news. These are stories about fleeing violence, about what its like to be disabled or about trying to see ...
Jul 26, 2016•49 min
We have spent a fair amount of time on the Terms of Reference Podcast talking about data - big data, data collection, using (and not using) data. While I'm sure that we will continue to talk about data a lot in the future, and hopefully (and more importantly?) the useful information that data creates, today's episode focuses on the portion of the innovation spectrum in development and aid where the truly tangible, potentially game changing product or service that someone (or group of people) who...
Jul 19, 2016•34 min
There is a good deal of energy in the development and humanitarian space focused on building an evidence base for what works - and what doesn't. Here on the Terms of Reference Podcast, we've talked with numerous individuals and organizations who are building data sets towards that end, and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation - or 3ie - has been contributing to this conversation since its founding in 2008. To date, they've funded 146 impact evaluations, 33 systematic reviews and 38...
Jul 12, 2016•42 min
Those of us in the innovation space in development and humanitarian aid often talk about making sure that what we do is market driven. Not only should following this path provide the best solution to those who are interested in using your product or service, it should also create a clear roadmap to sustainability. Because, after all, if you have created a solution with such value that the demand not only sustains your organization, but allows you to continue to refine, grow and take risks (or, i...
Jun 28, 2016•49 min
The field of international development and humanitarian aid is so broad and diverse that it is essentially impossible to keep up with everything that is going on. Combine that with the rapid pace of technology development, communication and all-things-internet and you wouldn't be alone if you felt a bit overwhelmed by it all. The good news is that there are a growing number of forums, groups and conferences that interested professionals can tap into to dive deeper into their area of interest, co...
Jun 21, 2016•39 min
It is no secret that there is a very strong push from donors and policy makers that programming for development and humanitarian aid be "evidence based." This push has, to a large degree, driven the technology revolutions we are seeing in data collection and analytics, and it is also responsible for the more difficult conversations that are had around value for money. So what if you were in a position where you were responsible for both testing and building a viable path to scale for promising e...
Jun 14, 2016•43 min
Similar to essentially any other industry, the problem of efficiently collecting project or program level data that can be readily crunched, analyzed and, ultimately, used by managers for decision making has been, and will continue, to be a conundrum for the development and humanitarian aid community for the forseeable future. I have often heard the frustration from professionals in the field, who wonder out loud why we haven't be able to put together one, or perhaps a small set of, technology s...
Jun 07, 2016•44 min
It is no secret that we live in a truly connected world. I can speak from experience that it is possible to be online in every nook and cranny of the planet - from deep inside the Ugandan countryside, to the middle of war torn Syria to the Islands of Fiji. The opportunity to connect to "the net" anywhere, for whatever reason - business, social, and yes, even evil - is here, now. There are many consequences, externalities and unknowns associated with this connected reality - some of which we are ...
May 31, 2016•1 hr
If you're like most people, you're probably listening to this podcast on a smartphone of some type - maybe your on your commute, or an after-work walk with the dog. Others will listen to it on their laptop or office desktop machine in the background as they perform some other task. When I talk about using technology, these types of examples are, what I believe, pops into most people's mind. And, rightly so. I can attest to the fact that, even in the most remote corners of Uganda, technology - as...
May 24, 2016•31 min
For most of us, a critical factor in creating a sustainable and satisfying career is the formal education we acquire. In the in development and aid space, a master's degree from a credible institution is really the minimum bar for even an entry level position at any top shelf organization. Access to this type of education, and its benefits, are things many of us simply take for granted. But what if your community were caught in the grips of conflict? Or what if you find yourself growing up in ca...
May 17, 2016•45 min
If you've been a part of the "innovation" conversation in the humanitarian aid and international development sector for any amount of time, you have - more than once - admitted to yourself two things: Innovation is only second to strategy as the most overused and abused word in the development/aid lexicon, and When people are talking about innovation, they're usually talking about technology. While I am as guilty as the next person, I try my best to avoid stumbling into the trap of either of the...
May 10, 2016•42 min
So often these days we hear about the need for real time monitoring, fail fast, quick results and projects that make an immediate difference in the lives of those we are serving. While these are often excellent goals to have, the cost, complications and ability to implement and simply deliver on these demands can be overwhelming to the average development worker or aid provider. At the same time, our community has often acknowledged the need for a deeper, more rigorous approach to understanding ...
May 03, 2016•43 min
How do you go about monitoring and tracking the work that you've accomplished as an implementer of humanitarian aid or development assistance? This question has been answered 1000s of times by 100s of organizations around the world. Even though we're in the year 2016, the reality of tracking progress for the vast majority of initiatives out there is one of two things: written reports in Microsoft Word or numbers on an Excel spreadsheet.... that then get translated into a narrative report in Word...
Apr 26, 2016•39 min
How much time did you spend wondering about the potential quality of the last medical procedure you were involved with? More specifically, did you spend a lot of time consternating about whether or not the tools being used in the procedure (either by you or the medical professionals you were with) were reliable and safe? This is an intriguing question for many of us. For example, I was born in the United States, but I have lived outside the US for the last 11 years and I spend a good deal of my ...
Apr 19, 2016•50 min
The idea of innovation has become so popular in the development and aid community that, unsurprisingly, it is difficult to keep up. There seem to be forums, conferences, blogs (and yes, even this podcast) that are putting information out there for your consumption to the point of overwhelm and it can be difficult to cut through the noise to create a better understanding of what works - and more importantly - what doesn't when it comes to better serving those in need. Luckily, there are also peop...
Apr 12, 2016•49 min
Peace Corps has had an office of innovation for almost 5 years now, and there are some very cool things happening. To learn more about them, I spoke with Patrick Choquette, who has served as the director of Peace Corps’ Office of Innovation since 2012. He is the agency’s second director of Innovation and manages a small team within the Director’s office with the mission of empowering staff and volunteers with a work environment that breeds innovation. As you've come to expect from guests here on...
Apr 05, 2016•48 min
Andrew Schroeder is the co-founder of WeRobotics, a global non-profit organization which works with local communities and international organizations to accelerate aid, development, environmental protection and global health with robotics technologies. Andrew is also the Director of Research and Analysis for Direct Relief, a non-profit organization based in Santa Barbara, CA which distributes essential medicines to local healthcare programs in over 100 countries. Andrew is a globally recognized ...
Mar 29, 2016•37 min
Dana Graber Ladek is an international development professional with 20 years of experience developing and managing humanitarian assistance and community stabilization projects around the world, in coordination with government agencies, the United Nations, and national and international organizations. Her recent assignments include Regional Specialist for Project Development for the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Regional Office in Costa Rica, Head of the Regional Support Unit f...
Mar 16, 2016•31 min
Jade Morgan is a Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in the Philippines where she works with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4 P’s) in providing life skills training, academic and professional development, tutoring, and mentorship to youth in her community. During her time studying social work at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Jade worked with recently resettled refugees as an ESL instructor, job skills facilitator, lead...
Mar 14, 2016•32 min
Bradley Lyon is a communications and knowledge management specialist. Currently, he is the Community Development Lead and Knowledge Manager at the Rocky Mountain Institute - Carbon War Room (RMI-CWR) where he is contributing to the launch of an online community of practice that targets renewable energy practitioners in the Caribbean and other island states. Brad is also a consultant at the World Bank, where, over the past six years, he’s worked in different capacities and contracts with the Lati...
Feb 29, 2016•32 min
Simon Hampel is a Partner at Leaders’ Quest, a social enterprise that works with leaders to create a more equitable and sustainable world by challenge them to explore purpose and create positive change. Simon spent the 90s into the new century as a serial entrepreneur, building companies in Europe, the US and Canada in the fields of financial services, leisure, consultancy and technology. Leaving these ventures behind, in 2002, he joined an Amazonian exploration, which ultimately resulted in fou...
Feb 22, 2016•33 min
Michael Lenczner is the CEO and founder of Ajah, a Canadian-based company which offers an online platform for researching funders to the non-profit sector. Its service, Fundtracker, merges dozens of government and public data sets with its own proprietary research so that users can track grant-making by foundations, corporations and governments. Ajah's award-winning non-profit initiative, PoweredByData leverages their expertise to develop a more effective social sector by working with various st...
Feb 15, 2016•29 min
Panthea Lee is a Principal and lead designer at Reboot.org, a social impact firm dedicated to inclusive development and accountable governance. Panthea is focused on the practical applications of ethnography and systems thinking in delivering effective international development and governance programs. Prior to co-founding Reboot.org, Panthea worked with the UNICEF Innovations team where she managed the development of a real-time data platform to support child rights advocacy in Iraq and mobile ...
Feb 08, 2016•36 min
Kipp Efinger is an independent consultant. Before going solo, Kipp served as Pact’s Country Director in Thailand, overseeing environmental governance and health projects funded by USAID; the Department of State; Chevron; and The Global Fund. Before moving to Thailand in 2013, he was based in Pact's Washington, DC office, where he managed support for a diverse portfolio in the Asia/Eurasia region, including multi-million dollar start-up operations for USAID projects in Nepal and Ukraine. He was a...
Nov 23, 2015•50 min
Owen Barder is Vice President, Director for Europe and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development - an organization that conducts research and analysis on a wide range of topics related to how policies and actions of the rich and powerful affect poor people in the developing world. From 1988 to 2010, Owen was a British civil servant. During that time he worked at No.10 Downing Street, as the Private Secretary of Economic Affairs to the Prime Minister; in the UK Treasury, including as P...
Oct 29, 2015•39 min
Miki Agrawal is a co-founder of Thinx, a revolutionary women's underwear company that solves a problem for women in the developed world and women in the developing world during "their time of the month." She was a recipient of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award and named 2013’s Forbes's Top 20 Millienials On a Mission. She is also the founder of the acclaimed farm-to-table, alternative pizza concept called WILD in NYC.
Oct 05, 2015•29 min
Nedgine Paul is the co-founder & CEO of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach For Haiti), works to raise education outcomes in rural Haiti by promoting teacher excellence and student success. Nedgine's previous roles at Achievement First, the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, and WorldTeach included opportunities to manage recruitment, staff orientation, tutoring, and governance duties, as well as the development of a school principal residency program. Nedgine also worked with Partners In Health to manag...
Sep 28, 2015•35 min
