As we look to the future of TAI, we recognize the need to adapt to a fast-shifting global context and the evolving needs of our members. In response, we are refreshing our approach—not through a radical overhaul, but by adapting to ensure we remain relevant and responsive.
This strategic refresh is the culmination of months of careful thought and debate. It introduces a flexible framework that will guide us for the next five years to maximize our collective impact. The framework explains who we are, what motivates us, how we work, how we learn, and how we engage with others. We outline the shifts we are making and aim to be more explicit about how TAI can be a platform for smarter and more impactful funding to strengthen trust, accountability, and inclusion. We believe those outcomes are essential components for a healthy democracy, economy, and planet. They are critical in their own right, but also for getting development results.
We feel the urgency of the current context. Global challenges, such as climate change, inequality and declining trust in democratic processes and governing institutions demand collective responses. Accountability gaps fuel perceptions that economic systems “are rigged,” and hopes for more informed policymaking are hampered by shifts in how people get their information and the rapid spread of mis- and disinformation. However, there are bright spots, too. Trust is rising in some contexts. We have examples where people's power is successfully demanding accountability.
Looking ahead, we need to address the practical challenges and realities of governing from local to global levels. We will not achieve the systems change that so many funders, including ourselves, demand unless we invest in building more participatory and effective governance in societies.
Platforms such as TAI have an important role to play in focusing donor attention and resources and creating spaces for new learning, ideas, and narratives. This strategic update explicitly recognizes our interest in engaging the broader donor community, beyond our membership. We need to do a better job articulating the value of investing in trust, accountability, and inclusion.
At the same time, we recognize that we need to live by the values that we espouse. TAI members want to become more trust-based, accountable, and inclusive funders. We made progress on this front in our last strategy period, with members sharing and learning almost as much on how we fund as what we fund. This updated framework further embeds those efforts as core to TAI’s purpose and an important area for cross-learning with other funders and funder communities.
Finally, this strategic framework reflects our continued belief and commitment to working collaboratively. There has been welcome attention to donor collaboration in the literature of late, and we see the value borne out every day through engagement in TAI and fellow funder collectives. We can do more together. The resources dedicated to strengthening participatory governance around the world are already spread too thin – we have a responsibility to grow those resources, but also to make sure they are aligned and used most effectively.
We attempt to convey how we envisage that happening through our new theory of change. We hope it resonates. Take a look and tell us what you think. Above all, we invite you to join forces. There is a lot to be done!
