Kati Collective is dedicated to bettering lives by improving systems for global development

Kati is a Swahili word meaning in the center or the middle of.  We believe that bringing the perspective of the woman who is at the center of most development programs is one of the best levers for making development truly effective.
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Collective is something done by people acting together.  We believe development must be both local and global and that many perspectives need to come together for impactful, lasting change. 

These two words form the foundation of what we believe, how we work and how we approach systems change for global development. 
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Kati Collective is dedicated to improving systems across global development by providing experienced, strategic and pragmatic action focused on three of the most important drivers of change:  women, digital and partnerships. We are compelling and impactful, aligning resources from across our network with global and local expertise in order to provide clients with targeted, cost-effective project resources. 

Women

Whether it’s agriculture, family planning, maternal and child health, immunizations, financial savings, micro enterprise or education, often the target of development interventions is a woman. 

​We know that when women work, economies grow.  Women comprise an average of 43% of the agricultural workforce in low and middle income countries (LMICs). 

The outcomes of a study by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) are the most illustrative to show the impact of a woman in her family, community and our world.  ICRW’s findings show that when a woman dies from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, her illness and death begin a chain of loss that harms her children’s health, education, and future opportunities; deepens household poverty; disrupts the life of her family; and devastates her loved ones with grief. The economic and human costs of maternal death are truly a price too high to bear.

Digital

Digital tools and data analytics, including mobile phones, tablets and computers and even AI, blockchain, machine learning and drones are becoming pervasive in every corner of the globe. 

​The potential is great for these innovations to impact everything from providing real time, accessible health, education, agricultural and financial data to people when and were they need it to charting human migratory patterns and monitoring disease outbreaks.  However, these solutions are currently inundating host countries with disconnected solutions and are contributing to a confused digital landscape which mirrors the fragmentation and lack of coordination common across development. 

​Further, many of the innovations that are working right now on the ground are ones that are not even on the radars of large, international donors and implementers and stakeholders who have an interest in reducing fragmentation are often not engaged in solutions. 

​Digital, when applied in a strategic, coordinated way that takes into consideration the local capacity and context can have the power to change lives.

Partnerships

The issues are too vast and the world too interconnected for us to ignore the power of partnership to solve our most complex global issues. 

​Partnerships have been elevated to the level of having their own Sustainable Development Goal — Goal #17, Partnerships for the Goals includes targets in the areas of finance, technology, capacity building, trade and systemic issues.  It’s time to think beyond the early iterations of “public private partnerships” and look to unconventional alliances, a social entrepreneurship lens and different ways of approaching partnerships to align agendas and moves some of our toughest issues forward — collectively.
Want to focus on women, digital or partnerships to leverage your impact? 
We look forward to talking to you!
© 2018 Kati Collective.