Hitting the campaign trail

Our community showed up last week to rally Congressional support for the changes we need to reimagine the future of global development.

Dear Unlock Aid community,

We know there were some big campaign updates last week. We kicked off ours with dozens of meetings with lawmakers who want to see the United States pioneer new ways of doing global development in time to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Our coalition showed up to describe a new vision of what’s possible:

• Innovators told lawmakers why new legislation – the Fostering Innovation in Global Development Act (FIGDA), introduced by Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA) – is so critical to solving the Valley of Death problem in global development. FIGDA creates new pathways to scale funding beyond pilots for proven solutions.

• They talked about why greater transparency is needed to ensure that more funding leaves Washington, DC and reaches local communities and organizations with solutions to the climate crisis, food insecurity, and pandemic preparedness.

• And they explained why we need new models of global development to build markets and create jobs, especially in sectors like food, health, and power. With so many vetted, innovative, and high-caliber organizations operating around the world, now is the time to transition traditional models of aid to trade.

“If we’re ever going to make big changes, this is the year to do it,” one lawmaker told us. Lawmakers want to see money moving in new ways now.

Building community and working through coalition

Last Tuesday evening, in partnership with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and Federation of American Scientists, we honored Members of Congress who are leading the charge for more innovative, 21st-century models of global development.

We also co-hosted an event with AfriLabs, a pan-African organization representing nearly 500 innovation hubs across Africa, to discuss with policymakers the kinds of changes we need to see to build a more inclusive future. We focused on the persistent, unique, and additional barriers that African women entrepreneurs experience when working with donors, investors, and philanthropists.

The organizations we need to achieve the SDGs by 2030 are out there. Now is the time to connect them with the funding they need to scale their impact.

What’s next for us? Over the next few months we’re taking this conversation out of Washington, DC to Congressional districts around the United States and innovation centers around the world. Follow us. We look forward to seeing you out there.

To Progress,
Unlock Aid