We believe in the power of community.
We move that belief from principle to practice.
For over a decade, the Local Works team advanced locally led development inside what was the world’s largest bilateral donor: USAID. We steered over $600 million toward community priorities within an institution where the incentives ran against it.
Now, we're working toward what comes next.
Who we are
We are practitioners who turned locally led development from principle into practice inside powerful global institutions. We've connected grassroots organizations with real resources to strengthen local systems and empower change that communities can sustain on their own terms. We don't just believe in locally led development: we've implemented it at scale. Our network of 320+ alumni, 400+ community partners, and collaborators across 64 countries represents a living proof of concept and a foundation for what's possible when systems are designed to support it.
What we do
We've done this work from the inside. We know where we can leverage change. We offer network convening, evidence building, policy engagement, and strategic advising to continue advancing the state of practice around locally led development.
Whether you're a funder looking to shift your approach, an institution navigating locally led implementation, or an organization building the next generation of foreign assistance, we bring the operational credibility to help you get it right. Our flexible, trust-based, community-driven approaches shift power, agency, and resources to grassroots changemakers, while our participatory approaches to capacity strengthening and peer learning reinforce collaborators’ commitments to advancing locally led development.
The window for change is open. Let's use it.
This is the moment to move resources, shift institutions, and build the infrastructure for a different kind of global cooperation. We're looking for partners who are ready to act.
What we’re thinking
