When groups in the global south talk about #ShiftThePower, they’re often pointing their fingers at large International NGOs (INGOs). For most of the 25 years I’ve spent working in civil society, I have found myself both equally inspired and dismayed by some INGO practice. INGOs can seem to have too much authority over decision-making; or account for a disproportionate share of the resources. In sum, there is an overarching sense of power imbalance between global actors and local actors. So I’ve been asking myself, how do we genuinely shift the power to where it’s needed? I spoke to four senior leaders from the north and south about...

We know we need to change the world and we know that means we have to #ShiftThePower – but how do we do that? In his recent blog and paper, Barry Knight helpfully gets us to look to systems theory to think in new and different ways. But what is the context in which we are doing this, and what is actually going on out there in the field? To help understand these issues, Compass, the UK-based ideas and action group that I direct, has been experimenting with the notion of 45° Change. The concept is simple. In an increasingly networked...