Community Empowerment
Coming Soon: Trauma, Resilience, and Community-Led Change
As Cultivate celebrates 10 years of equipping local leaders for community-led social change, I have been spending a lot of time reflecting on what comes next. Over the past decade, conversations about localization have gained significant momentum across the nonprofit and international development sectors. More organizations are recognizing what Cultivate has believed from the beginning:…
Read MorePreparing Local Leaders to Succeed in a Global North-Centric Development Sector (Localization Series, Part 5)
For localization to truly take root, community-led organizations in the Global South must be prepared to operate within the standards, norms, and expectations of the Global North – until they have enough power to change the system. This is a critical but often overlooked aspect of the localization movement. Many funding sources, partnership opportunities, and…
Read MoreLocalization and Dependency (Localization Series, Part 2)
One of the key benefits of localization in international development is its ability to break cycles of dependency that can trap communities in a perpetual state of need. Too often, aid programs follow a model of “relief provision” rather than fostering local growth and sustainability. This approach, while sometimes helpful in the short term, can…
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