ROOT CHANGE INC

IN 2023, ROOT CHANGE UNDERTOOK SEVERAL KEY DEVELOPMENTS, EXPANDING ITS WORK BOTH IN THE U.S. AND INTERNATIONALLY. DOMESTICALLY, WE LAUNCHED NEW PROGRAMS AIMED AT BRIDGING COMMUNITY DIVIDES AND ADDRESSING POLITICAL POLARIZATION, FOCUSING ON BUILDING CONNECTIONS ACROSS DIFFERENCES AND FOSTERING UNITY WITHIN LOCAL COMMUNITIES. THESE U.S.-BASED INITIATIVES AIMED TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL COHESION AND ENHANCE DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE AT A TIME WHEN POLARIZATION IS INCREASINGLY PREVALENT.INTERNATIONALLY, ROOT CHANGE EXPANDED ITS WORK THROUGH NEW USAID GLOBAL PROGRAMS CENTERED ON EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THESE PROGRAMS AIMED TO EMPOWER MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES AND FOSTER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BY INTEGRATING PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH AND RAPID EXPERIMENTATION. OUR WORK IN REGIONS LIKE GUATEMALA, KENYA, MALAWI, AND CAMBODIA FOCUSED ON ENHANCING LOCAL CAPACITY, AMPLIFYING YOUTH-LED MOVEMENTS, AND PROMOTING INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH.THROUGH STRENGTHENED COLLABORATIONS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, INTERNATIONAL NGOS, ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, AND DONOR AGENCIES, ROOT CHANGE ADDRESSED PRESSING CHALLENGES SUCH AS POLITICAL POLARIZATION, COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY. OUR EFFORTS PLACED SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON EMPOWERING MARGINALIZED GROUPS, FORTIFYING DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES, AND BUILDING CAPACITY ACROSS DIVERSE REGIONS GLOBALLY, INCLUDING THE U.S.COLLABORATION WITH THE CARTER CENTER: IN 2023, WE DEEPENED OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CARTER CENTER TO SUPPORT THEIR DOMESTIC CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS. ROOT CHANGE'S LEARNING-FOCUSED APPROACH, EMPHASIZING PARTICIPANT-CENTERED LEARNING, PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN FOSTERING LOCAL ENGAGEMENT AND EXPANDING DEMOCRACY RESILIENCE NETWORKS IN SIX STATES. BY INTEGRATING METHODOLOGIES LIKE ACTION RESEARCH, PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION, AND LEAN EXPERIMENTATION, WE CO-DESIGNED DYNAMIC LEARNING SESSIONS THAT ENABLED COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO SHARE, TEST, AND APPLY LOCALLY-CENTERED KNOWLEDGE.A KEY ASPECT OF OUR COLLABORATION WAS THE INTEGRATION OF ROOT CHANGE'S SOCIAL LAB APPROACH, DESIGNED TO BRIDGE DIVIDES AND FOSTER DEPOLARIZATION. THIS MODEL BROUGHT TOGETHER DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS INTO A SHARED SPACE TO IDENTIFY COMMON GROUND AND COLLABORATIVELY DEVELOP SOLUTIONS AIMED AT REDUCING POLARIZATION AND FOSTERING UNITY. THE SOCIAL LABS FOCUSED ON BRIDGING DIFFERENCES BY ENCOURAGING PARTICIPANTS TO ENGAGE IN OPEN DIALOGUE, IDENTIFY SHARED CONCERNS, AND CO-CREATE INTERVENTIONS THAT ADDRESSED THE ROOT CAUSES OF POLARIZATION. THROUGH THIS PROCESS, TEAMS FORMED AROUND KEY ISSUES, TESTING AND REFINING THEIR IDEAS USING LEAN EXPERIMENTATION IN THREE-MONTH CYCLES. THESE EXPERIMENTS, CONDUCTED WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ALLOWED FOR REAL-TIME LEARNING AND ADAPTATION OF STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE DEPOLARIZATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION.SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGNS: AS A LEARNING PARTNER, ROOT CHANGE PROVIDED COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES FOR THE "VACCINATE ALL 58 CAMPAIGN," A PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVE AIMED AT INCREASING VACCINATION RATES ACROSS CALIFORNIA. THIS INCLUDED MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING FRAMEWORKS, CONDUCTING PROGRAM EVALUATIONS, FACILITATING STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND COACHING, AND STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOS). OUR ROLE ALSO INCLUDED HOSTING REGIONAL CONVENINGS AND PERFORMING NETWORK ANALYSES OF THE CBOS INVOLVED IN HEALTH OUTREACH AND COVID-19 MITIGATION.CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: WE CONTINUED TO ASSIST THIS OFFICE WITH COLLECTIVE ACTION PLANNING, ORGANIZING COMMUNITY-BASED FOCUS GROUPS, PRODUCING ANALYTICAL DIGESTS, AND PROVIDING DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO REGIONAL PROGRAM MANAGERS WORKING ON COMMUNITY RESILIENCE INITIATIVES.IDEA INITIATIVE: ROOT CHANGE PARTNERED WITH USAID'S INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND EQUITABLE ASSISTANCE (IDEA) PROGRAM FOR A 5-YEAR GLOBAL INITIATIVE AIMED AT ENHANCING THE CAPACITY OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS. ROOT CHANGE LEADS EFFORTS IN CAPACITY STRENGTHENING, DEVELOPING INCLUSIVE METRICS, CONDUCTING NETWORK MAPPING, AND SUPPORTING LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO ADVANCE EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY.YOUTHPOWER YOUTH EXCEL PROGRAM: WE CONTINUED OUR COLLABORATION WITH IREX TO IMPLEMENT THE YOUTH EXCEL PROGRAM, A GLOBAL INITIATIVE LED BY USAID. THIS PROGRAM EMPOWERS YOUNG PEOPLE AND YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS TO DRIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY USING IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH TO STRENGTHEN DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS.ECONOMIC RECOVERY CORPS (ERC): ROOT CHANGE PARTNERED WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (IEDC) TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT AN IMMERSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY CORPS (ERC) FELLOWSHIP. THE ERC IS A NEW COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE DESIGNED TO ADDRESS LONG-STANDING ECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN DISTRESSED AND HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS ACROSS THE U.S. OVER A 30-MONTH FELLOWSHIP, 65 FELLOWS WORK WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES TO PROMOTE EQUITABLE ECONOMIC RESILIENCE AND TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE. ROOT CHANGE CO-DESIGNS TRAINING, SUPPORTS FELLOWS' ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTS, PROVIDES LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, AND CREATES A LEARNING FRAMEWORK AND CURRICULUM FOR FUTURE COHORTS.AS THE TRAINING AND LEARNING PARTNER FOR ERC, ROOT CHANGE FACILITATES CONNECTION AND EXCHANGE AMONG NATIONAL PARTNERS, HOSTS, AND FELLOWS IN URBAN, RURAL, AND TRIBAL AREAS. WE ALSO SUPPORT FELLOWS IN APPLYING ACTION RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES TO IDENTIFY LOCAL ASSETS, TEST SOLUTIONS TO COMMUNITY CHALLENGES, ENGAGE IN PARTICIPATORY PLANNING, AND GENERATE DATA FOR PROGRESS MONITORING. THIS COLLABORATIVE APPROACH IS DESIGNED TO ELEVATE NEW PRACTICES AND TRANSFORM THE FIELD OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WHILE BUILDING CAPACITY IN UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES TO DRIVE MORE EQUITABLE ECONOMIC OUTCOMES. THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, ROOT CHANGE IS DEVELOPING AN EQUITY-FOCUSED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CURRICULUM THAT WILL BE USED BY AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES FOR YEARS TO COME.COMMUNITY POWER LEARNING INITIATIVE: ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN 2023 WAS THE CONTINUED PROGRESS OF OUR COMMUNITY POWER LEARNING INITIATIVE (CPLI) WITH FUNDING FROM THE ROBERT WOODS JOHNSON FOUNDATION. THIS INITIATIVE BRINGS TOGETHER A DIVERSE GROUP OF COMMUNITY LEADERS, ACTIVISTS, AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO EXPLORE NEW WAYS OF STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY POWER. THROUGH CPLI, ROOT CHANGE FACILITATES PEER-TO-PEER LEARNING, COACHING, AND ACTION RESEARCH, ENABLING PARTICIPANTS TO OFFER-UP AND EXPLORE STRATEGIES FOR ADVANCING EQUITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. OUR ROLE IN CPLI EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE-SHARING, PARTICIPATORY DECISION-MAKING, AND GRASSROOTS-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS, ENSURING THAT COMMUNITIES ARE EQUIPPED TO LEAD THEIR OWN FUTURES AND RESPOND TO EVOLVING CHALLENGES.