Scaling Innovations Learning Network

Purpose of the network

The Learning Network is a forum for governments, funding partners, and social impact organizations to unpack the challenges of bringing innovations to scale and develop and implement practical approaches to remedy these challenges. The network seeks to catalyze a culture of collective impact and radical collaboration in how multisectoral stakeholders create enabling environments for innovation.

VillageReach and Spring Impact co-founded the network in 2020 and partnered with Spark Health Africa as a backbone organization in early 2021. In this role Spark Health Africa drives the strategic vision of the network and supports aligned activities between members.

Who can join and how to get involved

We invite anyone interested in learning more about scaling innovations in the public sector to join the Learning Network by signing up for our newsletter. The newsletter will keep you updated with events, resources, and other opportunities to learn and engage with like-minded organizations.

If you have an idea for how your institution could participate in the Learning Network, you can reach out directly to our Director of Programs, Tendai Gotora, at tendai@sparkhealthafrica.co.za. For example, you may already be working on a scalable solution with multisectoral stakeholders, or you want to collaborate on an event or co-create learning resources. In the spirit of radical collaboration, we welcome your interest and would be happy to talk more.`

Resources

One key mandate of the Learning Network is to produce practical tools and resources to help people in their scale journey. These resources were co-created with multiple organizations across sectors.

Mindset Shift WorkshopsJourney Tool & Case StudyAdditional resources

Centering the role of government as a partner and valued member of the system can require a shift in mindset between government, social impact organizations and funders. In order to enhance this shift, VillageReach and Spring Impact co-developed a workshop to help stakeholders reach alignment on the goal of embedding solutions into the public sector, define actionable ways of working to achieve those goals and mitigate potential challenges.

During this 3.5-hour workshop social impact organizations that are somewhere on the Journey to Scale with Government (or want to be), get the opportunity to sit down with government and funder partners and align on goals and build new ways of working collaboratively that is critical for partnership success. For more information, please contact us at: transitioningwell@villagereach.org.

The Journey Tool is an interactive tool to navigate towards government-owned solutions which have sustained impact at scale. The tool was initiated by VillageReach and Spring Impact and was co-developed by over 50 contributors from across 16 countries.

Download the Journey Tool Here

Click here to read a case study that covers a practical application of the Journey Tool in relation to the Health Center by Phone program in Malawi. Over the past decade, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Malawi and VillageReach took key actions to support an eventual transition of this solution to government ownership.

Here is Upile Kachila from VillageReach to give you an overview of the tool.

You may find these resources useful as you continue on your scale journey.

  • A report from the Bridgespan Group highlights the historical challenges of the African funding landscape; while donations by African Philanthropists increased during COVID-19, local NGOs got only small portion of this funding.

  • The New Allies report from McKinsey & Company, Ashoka, Catalyst 2030, Echoing Green, Schwab Foundation and the Skoll Foundation unpacks ways governments can accelerate change and achieve the SDGs by collaborating with systems social entrepreneurs on institutionalizing successful social innovations.

  • A blog post from Results for Development shines a light on the importance of the capacities, relationships, and interactions between stakeholders involved in a public-private engagement.

  • A tool in the Strengthening Mixed Health Systems Project is intended to assess partner characteristics before implementing a public-private partnership.

  • An SSIR article from Common Future & Dalberg focuses on funders sharing decision-making power over who receives capital with the communities they hope to serve in order to truly advance racial justice.

  • An Ashoka online course focuses on when and how social entrepreneurs should engage government to achieve systems change.

Past events

Sign up for the newsletter to get updates on upcoming Learning Network Events. You can watch some of our past events below.

Tactics, Tips and Pitfalls: Leveraging Government Partnerships to Scale

(June 2021, Catalyst 2030)

During Catalyst 2030’s Catalyzing Change Week, Elizabeth Hausler (Build Change), Richard Chivaka (Spark Health Africa) and Carla Blauvelt (VillageReach) joined host Erin Worsham (CASE at Duke) for a panel discussion on leveraging government partnerships to scale.

Elephant in the room: Funder/Government Power Dynamics 

(April 2021, Skoll World Forum)

Panelists included Patrick Mugisha (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uganda) Deborah Malac (US Embassy in Kampala), Jamie Cooper (Big Win Philanthropy), and Malado Kaba (Ministry of Finance, Republic of Guinea) and moderator Ngaire Woods (Oxford University). Panelists discussed power dynamics between funders and governments, providing tools and strategies to support lasting change.

Centering Government Voices for the Journey to Sustained Impact at Scale

(April 2020, Devex digital event)

Panelists included Martina Lukong Baye (Cameroon Ministry of Public Health), Daniel Gebre-Michael Burssa (Ministry of Health, Ethiopia), Patrick Mugisha (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Uganda) and moderator Raj Kumar (Devex).

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