USAID’s DRG Office wanted to address the threat of disinformation in local contexts, consider best practices to inform programming strategies and priorities, and develop a set of fundable concepts for adaptive and measurable solutions. CollaborateUp worked closely with the DRG Center’s AIM to co-create a workshop that convened 18 thought leaders, implementers, and academics from a diverse array of institutions across the globe to more clearly define the problem of disinformation and to discuss and develop innovative solutions to the problems it poses.
We interviewed participants prior to the workshop, engaging them to better understand their needs, barriers and motivators and used those insights to inform workshop development. We quickly trained participants to use collective impact methods and design thinking principles to form multi-disciplinary teams and develop possible solutions. Using the CollaborateUp Academy toolkit, participants developed innovative concept notes that were submitted to DRG for funding.
Workshop participants formed a set of multi-disciplinary teams and submitted multiple concepts. USAID DRG funded three full proposals for a total nearing $10 million.