Context & History

Network Purpose

Innovation for Change (I4C) currently is defined as a global, multi-donor, multi-stakeholder platform with seven innovation hubs around the world co-designed to support, strengthen and sustain civil society, focusing on new methods of designing and implementing programs, facilitating partnership, scaling existing solutions and amplifying civil society voices around the world.

History

Since 2015, Innovation for Change has established six Regional Hubs (with local member organizations) in its network through a co-design process with stakeholders in its ecosystem. The output of the co-creation process and a meeting Johannesburg in May 2017 was a governance model for I4C (see below), which has been approved by I4C’s funders.

An eighth hub--the global “Helper Hub” -- was created as the Secretariat for I4C with shared management from founding organizations, Civicus and Counterpart. Main funders to date have been SIDA and USAID and both have been instrumental in the design and direction of I4C.

I4C Principles

• Design with the end user in mind

• Assure civil society ownership

• Ensure transparency and accountability

• Maximize representation

• Seed innovation

• Aim for Impact

• Strive for Sustainability

• Embrace Learning

• Data-driven governance

Governance model & key roles

Funders

Funders and external experts are important advisors and/or partners but are in consultative/cooperative roles outside of the formal governance structure.

The Governance Circle

The Governing Circle is the equivalent of a “Board of Directors” and is the core governing body. It consists of 2 Stewards from each regional hub, with one vote per hub. The circle is responsible for making collaborative decisions based on input from and participation of network members. Hub Stewards have the responsibility to bring the voice of their regional members and stakeholders.

The first governing circle was a prototype of the final governance circle. It was setup as a temporary circle for one year, with one Stewards per region and is tasked with facilitating the decision on how the governance circle should be elected in the future. It was tasked with ensuring a smooth hand-over to a new governing circle that will be chosen after one year according to the rules that were agreed upon during the prototype.

Regional Hubs

The structures of Regional Hubs are determined by the member participants and Regional Hub leaders. Although there are core guidelines, the regional participants can determine their own sub structures, how they work and their priorities (within the strategic directions /goals and innovation impact expectations of I4C).

Members

There is one universal hub membership that is recognized globally, with both privileges and responsibilities. The numbers of members can vary from region to region.

Each hub gets to determine their own membership for their region and access to that region's content on the I4C platform. Membership at the regional level automatically guarantees membership at the global level, and access to any posts shared globally and also with global users.

Helper Hub

The Helper Hub manages the operations, finances and systems for the Innovation for Change network. Currently there is a global Helper Hub with a dedicated Helper Hub staff member supporting each region. It maintains a cooperative relationship with the funders and is in direct communication with the governing circle.

The helper hub is currently under evolution to a new form.