In Spanish, enlace is really a beautiful word. In English it might be translated as link or network and it means those things in Spanish, too. But if you look inside the word, one also sees the English word “lace”, as in shoelace, which ties things together, or as a lace collar that beautifies and enhances. In Spanish it also means to intertwine, to weave together, to gradually form a fabric, a fabric tight enough to hold and connect and hope that no one falls through. In March of 2020, a call was put out to anyone and everyone in Monteverde, individuals, organizations,...

This blog originally appeared in Alliance Magazine. See the response "Here's how we build local" from Alette van Kralingen, Policy Officer at the Department of Social Development, Civil Society and Education, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands.   It is an odd but interesting fact that local resource mobilization has never really inspired the interest or support of most funders. Over the years, I have developed a few theories as why this is so. One reason is impatience. The dominant funding system still favours and rewards the promise of quick – and often, let’s face it, unrealistic – results, in the...