Biggie (Bigbouy) Chikwavarara, former Senior Advisor and Local Works Coordinator for USAID Zimbabwe, knows firsthand that without opportunity, potential can be hard to imagine. Through Local Works, they were able to challenge traditional top-down development by first meeting communities where they were to listen, talk, agree on priorities, and enable space for true community leadership.

Zeeste Jahanzaib worked with USAID Pakistan on peacebuilding, youth engagement, human rights, and democracy. It was never work—it is passion. The community-focused approaches Local Works advocated for at USAID were so aligned with what she already deeply believed, and it helped turn a buzzword into a real process.

Duong Nguyen worried locally led development might not work in Vietnam, where civil society remains a delicate subject. After 18 years working with USAID/Vietnam, he learned technical solutions weren’t enough, leading him to champion collective action as a way forward. Local Works provided seed funding creating space for local actors to lead, mobilize resources, and scale.