Accountability Lab

Does change always require something completely new? Maybe not. Sometimes, the most meaningful innovation comes from putting existing wisdom into practice with intention and that can be truly liberating.

In her latest blog, our Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Florencia Guerzovich, invites us to rethink how we support governance and civic space. Instead of relying only on technocratic prescriptions, she argues for valuing the connective, coalition-building work that keeps societies stitched together.

Florencia shares three insights on where governance support can go next:

The soft infrastructure and the people she calls “invisible weavers” are just as important as formal coalitions and movements. Their everyday contributions often go unnoticed, but they keep civic space alive.

These invisible weavers act in a bilingual infrastructure, helping translate between institutional systems and the lived realities of communities.

What this work needs most isn’t invention, but visibility and support by rebalancing portfolios and how we work so that relational work can sustain and scale.

👉 Read the full blog: https://bit.ly/4iYR7nn

The future of governance support depends on what we choose to see | Accountability Lab Rebalancing toward the relationships, translation work, and bilingual soft infrastructure that make democratic practice possible.   Across conversations with practitioners, funders, researchers, and colleagues working on democracy, governance and civic space, the same diagnosis keeps surfacing. It....

📢 Contribute to New Research on Independent Media

Independent researchers from Johns Hopkins University and -Pollinate Consulting Solutions are conducting a global study to understand how the recent termination of major US development assistance is affecting independent media around the world.

They are inviting insights from:
➡️ Media outlets and newsrooms
➡️ Journalists, bloggers, and content
➡️ Civil society groups working in or alongside the media
➡️ Organisations in countries where USAID or the US government previously supported

Note:
📌 You do not need to have received US funding to participate.
📌 They do ask for only one response per organisation.)

The survey is available in multiple languages, and all responses will remain confidential. Findings will inform a public report with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, helping donors and policymakers better understand evolving needs within the media ecosystem.

📝 Take the survey:

⚫ English: https://bit.ly/48SQwQE
⚫ Français: https://bit.ly/3Y6wQCL
⚫ Español: https://bit.ly/3MEl2Fg
⚫ Português: coming soon!
⚫ Українська: https://bit.ly/3Y9lYUI
⚫ Русский: https://bit.ly/3KHPL3J
⚫ العربية: https://bit.ly/3Kss2oc

For questions, you can contact the research team at: [email protected]

By sharing your perspectives, you’ll contribute to a clearer picture of the challenges facing independent media – and the opportunities to strengthen support in this space.

Media organization survey: Ending US support for independent media Create surveys with end-to-end encryption. Protect your respondents' data and privacy. Try it for FREE.