Across the globe, humanity is facing a convergence of challenges, including rising inequality, shrinking civic space, climate instability, and growing anti-rights movements. These challenges are deepening just as foreign assistance declines and international commitments waver.

While the scale and nature of these disruptions have led some global funders to pause, think, and reassess their strategies, the local leaders Co-Impact partners with across Africa, Asia, and Latin America have shared a different and consistent message: 1) These challenges aren’t new. 2) We’re getting on with the work. 3) Here’s what we’re doing and why it’s working.

These leaders are transforming public systems from within—finding champions in government, building cross-sector coalitions, persisting through setbacks, and continuing to deliver impact for the communities they work with. What’s more, many were never heavily dependent on foreign aid to begin with. Despite global rhetoric, international funding has often failed to reach local efforts. Some global donors have signed a long-standing commitment to provide at least 25 percent of aid to local and national actors but, in reality, little progress has been made towards this goal, and local actors are thought to receive only 0.6 percent of global funding directly.

Where there's a baseline of rule of law and institutional accountability, these leaders have focused primarily on their own governments and communities—unlocking domestic resources, shifting and implementing policy, and building local ownership of solutions that last. They've built strategies to allow progress to continue regardless of political shifts, ensuring that systems are more responsive, resilient, and equipped to deliver lasting impact at scale.

Their work often starts within civil society—with locally rooted organizations, many led by women and other historically excluded groups who are developing practical, grounded solutions to complex problems. Instead of working around public systems, they work to improve them by building trust, demonstrating what’s possible, and helping to embed lasting change into how governments and communities serve people.

Read the full article about investing in local leaders by Olivia Leland at Stanford Social Innovation Review.