Watch: How the past year will shape NGOs of the future

With lockdowns, funding cuts, large-scale protests demanding racial equity, and growing urgency over the climate emergency, international NGOs have had to grapple with big questions about their future over the past 18 months. During that time, INGOs have mostly been in “react” and “adapt” mode, said Tim Boyes-Watson, global director of insights and influence at Humentum. But now “we’re in a transformative moment where we really get to choose what change we take on” — whether that’s in terms of technology, funding, or power structures. How do all these forces of change interact, and how will they shape NGOs going forward? Devex’s Will Worley spoke to Boyes-Watson along with Stephanie Draper, chief executive at Bond, and Lorriann Robinson, director at The Advocacy Team, to discuss these key questions. Highlights from this event include: • The key forces shaping NGOs, particularly INGOs, this year. • How lessons from the pandemic could reshape the relationship between INGOs and local partners. • How funding needs to adapt. • The need to build more equitable systems to respond to all these challenges — whether funding challenges, the need for decolonization, the move toward flexible working, or response to climate change. • What needs to happen to make sure the opportunities created by the past year — such as reducing international travel and handing more power to local organizations — stick in the long term.