Lean Startup for Social Innovation
Incrementally testing any proposed change and getting live feedback from the people it’s supposed to benefit dramatically improves the probability of success. Our Lean Startup and Agile Methods use rapid experimentation and learning cycles, prototyping to quickly test, iterate, and learn — quickly delivering functional improvements instead of comprehensive but delayed programs — accelerating time-to-impact.
USAID Co-Creation Workshops
Our team has facilitated over 40 co-creation processes, including 20 for USAID, and we have developed a structured, step-by-step process that incorporates successful practices and lessons learned from this past experience. Working with USAID Missions and Offices we adapt our process to each individual need and can work from conception through to award under multiple co-creation mechanisms, e.g., Annual Program Statements, Broad Agency Announcements, Requests for Information, etc., and we can provide advice throughout the co-creation process and/or facilitate co-creation workshops.
Honey Bee Health Coalition
CollaborateUp helped organize a first-of-its-kind Honey Bee Health Summit with over 100 stakeholders to get clarity on the causes of declining bee health and how each different stakeholder could help. We then worked with the Keystone Policy Center to form the Honey Bee Health Coalition, which now consists of over three dozen cross-sector member-organizations. We also led “Bee Understanding”, an innovative job-swap program letting stakeholders “walk a mile in the other guy’s boots” to understand how their decisions impact bee health and capturing their experiences in two award-winning documentary films.
Cybersecurity in Ukraine Co-Creation Activity
CollaborateUp designed and facilitated a co-creation experience where all participants came together to speak in one voice, articulating a vision to support USAID/Ukraine and strengthen Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with an innovative cybersecurity program. We took participants through a five step process that included: falling in love with the problem, prioritizing the problems and mapping ideas, building a minimum viable concept, prototyping, presenting, and refining the concepts, and finally creating a draft concept note and vision. Our work unlocked insights previously unavailable to Ukrainian government stakeholders and united all eight EOI co-creators behind a single, integrated concept note.
Reducing Opportunities for the Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES)
ROUTES is an innovative and transformational partnership bringing together international conservation organizations, donors and governments, law enforcement, and the transportation and logistics industry for a multi-year collaborative program to disrupt wildlife trafficking by reducing the use of legal transportation supply chains. Using our CollaborateUp Formula for rapidly forming, managing, and scaling multi-sector partnerships, CollaborateUp helped USAID and its partners achieve their goals.
VukaNow
The VukaNow Activity was born out of co-creation, arising from a series of co-creation workshops that convened dozens of partners with a stake in and commitment to ending wildlife crime in Southern Africa. CollaborateUp, a partner on VukaNow, serves as the “backbone” partner, employing CLA, human centered design and other techniques to ensure strong collaboration, learning and sharing across implementing partners and national stakeholders.
Critical Infrastructure Digitalization and Resilience (CIDR) Activity
CollaborateUp serves as the “backbone” organization for the USAID Bureau for Europe and Eurasia (E&E)’s CIDR Activity, a program that seeks to assist critical infrastructure entities in the E&E region to incorporate cybersecurity best practices into organizational operations, planning, and procurement, as well as to prioritize cybersecurity investment needs. Our goal is to enable a smooth transition from the co-creation to implementation stage through detailed workplans and to leverage constructive collaboration through flexible facilitation design that is effective in both virtual or in-person environments.