About Us - Governance Action Hub

Welcome to the Hub!!

Why a Governance Action Hub?

Governance is not a problem of only governments or company boardrooms. It is about steering, about going places and making things happen.

At the Governance Action Hub, we want to bring governance closer to people, because the way policies, programs or initiatives are organized and implemented affects the future of all of us: individually, collectively, for us and for generations to come.

We believe you should have the chance, when you are able to do so, to pursue, foster, inform or demand governance action and reform, regardless of whether you are a regular citizen or work in government, civil society, private sector, or an international organization.

We want to explore what is possible in governance action and reform through collaborative approaches and better coordination of local and global action, in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time.

But we cannot do it alone.

We need others like you, offering and gaining perspective on opportunities to do things better in the governance space, recognizing and facing context challenges, local politics, or prevailing power dynamics.

Our Approach to Governance

We believe that achieving better governance—benefiting people’s lives, rights, and opportunities in sustainable ways—requires a systems lens that:

Is politically savvy and context-informed,
Includes learning loops that provide actionable insights, and
Is rooted in collective, inclusive action.

The design of the Hub has drawn inspiration and built on learnings from organizations like the Asia Foundation or the Center for Public Impact.

We are obsessed with impact, but it is people like you in the trenches, in the pursuit of change, who will make things happen. We want to be, first and foremost, useful to you as a connector of learning and networks in the pursuit of policies, reforms, programming that can make things happen and is sustainable over time.

The Governance Action Hub aspires to become a place for potential or emerging coalitions for change to connect with one another and explore and co-create solutions to shared challenges.

In order to do that, we will first lead a number of global and country-level explorations to show the potential of the ideas behind the Action Hub. We will only pursuit and sustain demand-driven explorations with a clear path to ownership from partners, especially country-based ones, and that build agency and engagement from local stakeholders.

Our Theory of Change is a Compass, not a Map

Our overarching theory of change is meant to be adaptive. It should lead and over time reflect iterations in each of our initiatives, and a conscious effort to be demand-driven.

We have customized theories of change for each of our initiatives. You can find more info on those on the respective pages.

Below is an illustration of the governance Action Hub’s theory of change. For a more traditional look at it, please see our Resources page.

Catalyzing Themes for Governance Action and Reform

By engaging widely in shaping this program, we have identified four main themes with opportunities to try new approaches to governance and reform that encourage broad participation. We take each theme an as entry point or window of opportunity for a better way of doing governance.

Subnational Level Development Processes

Subnational development processes may or may not follow the pace or even take the same direction as country-level ones. How can citizens become more engaged in the implementation (and not only the planning or consultation) of the development process? Do these local development processes offer lessons for country- or global-level action? Our work in Peru dives into these questions.

Learn more

Climate Action and Energy Transition

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime. Do we have the right governance in place to elicit country reforms and global action? Will energy transition processes be truly Just? Explore with us how to build governance systems that reflect the priorities of the people most at risk, one that accounts for and corrects historical inequities. Read about this in our work in Colombia, and soon, in our work in the Philippines. Join us in eliciting global action ahead of COP30 in Brazil in 2025!

Learn more

State Capture and Anticorruption

We have come a long way in understanding state capture as a challenge that is different from corruption. State capture can be legal and can lead to progressive weakening of institutions. Can we build effective collective action to overcome it? We are offering our network a platform for a global exploration on how to tackle state capture, together.

Explore the State Capture Index, a unique data set

Renewing Democracy

Beyond renewal, democracy may need a rethinking, questioning, analyzing our beliefs on what a democracy really is. How do we make the democratic process work better for people? Maybe by showing its value and impact in solving concrete problems people face. Stay tuned for more from the Governance Action Hub on this.

Governance Action Hub Team

We are people like you, driven by the possibility to make a contribution to the governance space. We are a combination of young and experienced consultants and Results for Development staff, with diverse professional and personal backgrounds. Along with our partners, we are united by our commitment to help local leaders make governance work better, engaging citizens in the solution of problems and the pursuit of common goals.

Mario Picon

Director, Governance Action Hub

Tracy Jooste

Associate Director, Governance Action Hub

Supriya Sadagopan

Program Officer

Natida Nivasnanda

Senior Program Associate

Katherine Bain

R4D Senior Fellow

Felicia Khan

R4D Senior Fellow

Daniel Kaufmann

R4D Senior Fellow

Cielo Magno

R4D Senior Fellow

Julio Guzman

R4D Senior Fellow

Victoria Martin

Program Operations Director

Jorge Herrera Flórez

Colombia Program Lead

Carlos Alberto Díaz Villán

Colombia Project Manager

Emilie Fokkelman

Senior Knowledge Manager

Oluwabusayomi Sotunde

Communications Manager

Taylor Salisbury

Associate Director, Evaluation and Adaptive Learning (EAL)

Thomas Aston

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Advisor

Amanda Folsom

Practice Lead, Collaborative Learning

The Hub's Funding Sources

The Governance Action Hub is able to explore what is possible thanks to the financial support of key organizations that believe in our mission. They have seen the potential and alignment of this work in countries or themes they support under their respective strategies, or as core funders to build the platform. If you believe in the values that guide our work, please consider supporting our in-country local partners first, or the Hub as a channel to facilitate better and more effective collaboration. Let's explore together what is possible in governance action and reform.

FUNDER

BHP Foundation

The BHP Foundation is a global philanthropy collaborating to catalyze new solutions to social and environmental challenges. They provided seed funding to give shape to the Action Hub and its initial explorations.

FUNDER

Royal Academy of Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering is a charity that harnesses the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

FUNDER

Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation's mission is to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement.

Our Partners

Across the world and during our journey, we are finding many partners with which we share mission, ethos and drive. For more details on our emerging work together, visit our initiative pages.