Our Model

GlobaWA Infographic

Global Washington is a catalyst for strengthening the global development sector and its member organizations by leveraging resources, increasing visibility, sharing best practices, convening the sector by country, issue and organization type, and advocating around education and global engagement and foreign policy.

Please explore this section to learn more about our work and how you and your organization can become involved.

Global Washington convenes members to generate opportunities for growth;
Global Washington strengthens member organizations to increase their impact; and
Global Washington advocates across key development issues at the local, national, and global level.

2011 Annual Report

Our members’ stories are compelling and help us see why the state of Washington is such an important key to making the world a healthier, safer, and more equitable place. For this reason, our 2011 Annual Report is focused on highlighting key trends and illustrating them with the innovative work of our members. We hope that this will give you a snapshot of the diversity and depth of impact of Washington’s development sector. Read our annual report.

Collective impact

Global Washington is in its fifth year. We have executed on our slogan to “Convene, Strengthen, Advocate” through an annual conference¹, workshops, lecture series, and countless engagements with our member partners and with other leaders in global development. In that time, through informal interactions as well as formal surveys, we have also learned that our partners are eager to learn more, to contribute more, and to collaborate more towards common goals: greater impact in international development and more support for development activity by organizations based in the state of Washington.

In the hopes that it can support such efforts, Global Washington is currently considering a number of approaches. One which seems promising is the “collective impact²”approach formalized by FSG³. Through case studies of several instances when multiple organizations have effectively coalesced around a common goal, FSG identified the following five conditions for collective impact⁴:

Common agenda: All participants have a shared vision for change including a joint approach to solving a common problem through agreed upon actions.
Shared measurement: Metrics are agreed upon and collected consistently across all participants.
Mutually reinforcing activities: Participant activities are differentiated, but coordinated.
Continuous communication: There is consistent, open communication.
Backbone support: A separate organization with staff and the appropriate skill set serves to coordinate participating organizations⁵.

We believe that with some adaptation, the collective-impact framework is well-suited to the common interests of our member community. In particular, Global Washington is committing to serve as a backbone organization that would facilitate and support the kinds of collective impact that its members would like to have.

In 2013, we will be facilitating working groups that discuss, refine, plan, and act towards a set of goals. These are goals that were identified in a bottom-up process involving our membership.

Collective impact working groups and goals

Through a series of focus groups, informal conversations, and a breakout session at Global Washington’s Annual Conference in Dec. 2012, we have found that the following broad goals resonate with our membership. The goals are listed below in decreasing order of popularity; the most often cited interests are at the top:

To raise the general public’s awareness of (Washington-area) global development activities and their importance
To increase awareness among Global WA member organizations of one another’s’ work and to develop a clearinghouse for Global WA member assets
To facilitate Washington-area partnerships between universities and non-profits (in research, internships, etc.)
To advocate for U.S. and Washington foreign-aid resources
Washington-area engagement between businesses and non-profits
- Clean tech and environmental NGO and Business working sub-group
To measure the total impact of global development activity by, e.g., Washington-area development organizations, Global WA member organizations, etc.
To promote development-oriented programs in Washington-area schools
To improve the evaluation of programs run by Global WA members

To learn more and to join one of these groups please email bookda@globalwa.org

¹ The 2012 conference focused specifically on collective impact; for a summary, please visit our website:
http://globalwa.org/convene/recaps-of-landmark-events/annual-conferences/conference-2012/

² http://www.fsg.org/OurApproach/CollectiveImpact.aspx

³ For a brief history and description of the origins of FSG and collective impact, please visit:
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/understanding_the_value_of_backbone_organizations_in_collective_impact_1

⁴ The list here is adapted from Hanleybrown et al. (2012). For a good summary of the collective impact approach, see:
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/channeling_change_making_collective_impact_work.

⁵ These five principles are outlined in greater detail here:
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/embracing_emergence_how_collective_impact_addresses_complexity

Convene

Global Washington convenes members to generate new opportunities for growth.

Global Socials: Convening by Region or by Issue

convene Washington State has an amazing diversity of groups and people working in global development, and the opportunities for collaboration are immense . Global Washington’s global social events offer a central hub at which these diverse entities can connect, share and strategize to build the next chapter of our common global future. There are countless groups based right here in Washington that are directing their energy and resources to your region or issue. Join us to network with members from small and large non-profits, educational institutions, philanthropy and businesses who all share something in common: a passion for development work in YOUR region or around YOUR focus issue.

Global Socials are a series of networking events run by Global Washington. At the socials, groups connect and share experiences about working in their shared region or around their shared issue and think of ways they can collaborate to overcome common challenges.

See our upcoming events here.

A Directory And Map Of Groups Located In Washington State Active In Global Development Issues In The Developing World

Global Washington supports and updates the Global Washington Directory, which provides key contact information about the sector and features organization descriptions, programs, fields and countries of expertise, and a dynamic interactive map.

Monthly Newsletter

Global Washington’s monthly e-newsletter is filled with practical news and information for busy global development professionals wanting to stay in-the-know. Members are encouraged to contribute announcements and event information.

Calendar of Events

Global Washington maintains a calendar of events in the state of Washington that are of interest to our members, and highlights events sponsored by our member organizations.

Strengthen

Global Washington strengthens member organizations to increase their impact.

Capacity Building Trainings

beanscolor Global Washington offers capacity building meetings and workshops that focus on leveraging the skills and increasing the reach of our member organizations. Learn more…

Public Relations

Global Washington funds and supports media and public relations opportunities for our members.

Volunteer Matching

Global Washington enhances volunteerism through placement at member organizations in interesting and engaging global development volunteer opportunities.

Annual Conference

Global Washington holds an annual conference to bring together experts and practitioners from across the global development sector. Beyond its practical outcomes, the conference provides broad exposure for our member organizations to potential customers, corporate leaders and the global development community at large.

This year’s conference is scheduled for Oct 31^st and Nov 1^st, 2011.

Advocate

mom and child

Global Washington works across the non-profit, business, academic and government sectors to increase and improve global education and engagement, advocate for key policy reforms related to global development, and help to raise Washington’s profile as a hub for global development worldwide.

Education and Global Engagement

The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” shows how many different people are involved in education. Global Washington’s strength is convening groups across sectors, from business to academic, that have a stake in global education and engagement. Global Washington advocates to place global learning at the heart of k-12, higher education and community education curriculum. Learn more…

Advocacy

The goals of Global Washington’s policy efforts are twofold. The first is to increase the voice of members and the state regarding federal global development policy and use the expertise in global development within the state to influence federal policies. The second is to create a forum for member organizations to advance their institutional advocacy efforts. Learn more…

Raising Washington’s Global Profile

Global Washington works to promote the state of Washington as a hub of global development activity, where business leaders, academics, non-profit professionals and other thought leaders work collaboratively to build a better world. Every two years, Global Washington assesses the state of the State in global development, and periodically publishes other research and reports related to global development and Washington State. Learn more…