Why Networks?
Solving complex problems requires shared visions.
Networks are critical actors and organizers for economic, political, environmental, and social change. They are typically found at the intersection of mission-driven individuals and organizations — NGOs, governments, private sector firms — grappling with complex problems head-on. The expansion of networks as a go-to model for creating change reflects an increasing recognition that complex problems can only be solved by working together.
Networks work across a huge range of topics and issues areas…
— e.g. health, education, climate change, peacebuilding, hunger, youth, social justice, digital equity — to build connections and solve problems together.
In doing so, networks operate at different levels (globally, regionally, nationally, locally) and across sectors and industries.
As such, they come in many shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of formality and structure.
Networks of all sorts share functional commonalities:
Networks integrate the wide-ranging needs, interests, and views of all actors that have a role or interest in the problem and potential solutions to it.
Networks accommodate those actors through an unlimited range of different activities determined and undertaken by participants in order to achieve a shared vision.
Networks foster a modus operandi premised on facilitation and coordination of participants and activities that instills decentralized ownership across all participants.
Why focus on networks?
Networks apply unique approaches to strategy and operations — for everything from strategic planning and governance to leadership and resource mobilization.
Ensuring that networks are effective and impactful requires designing and executing fit-for-purpose approaches based on both evidence and practice. Likewise, network leaders and managers require professional development to build their skills to design and execute effectively within a network setting.
The capacity of networks to affect change rests upon the appropriate support to both networks and the people who work for and with them.