It’s Hard to Know the Right Things to Say – And When to Say Them

I’ve spent my entire career in international development, including at USAID and as one of the first five team members to establish the PEPFAR office in the State Department. I’m struggling to put words to the emotions I feel about the real human impact of recent funding decisions have on people living with, or unnecessarily being born with, HIV.

I cannot overstate the profound shift happening in international development right now. This is nothing short of a full system reset. And yet, I worry that as a sector, we’re missing the right instincts in responding to this moment.

Lessons from the Private Sector

In the private sector, upheaval is met with strategic consolidations. My mother worked in publishing, specifically in paperback sales. I watched as digital content rapidly diminished the value of print, forcing her to navigate five consecutive mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Avon Books, HarperCollins, Berkley Books acquired by Penguin, and later, Penguin merging with Random House to form the publishing giant Penguin Random House. These shifts weren’t easy, but they were necessary. Companies didn’t simply vanish – they adapted, pooled resources, and evolved.

And behind every M&A was the money: Hearst Corporation, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Pearson PLC, and Time Warner. The analogy in international development today? Private philanthropy.

Yet in our sector, I’m hearing a different story. Organizations are simply disappearing. Vital work is vanishing without a trace. Where are the M&As, the structured consolidations that preserve expertise and resources? Where are the headlines about Rising Academies acquiring Omega Schools or PEAS merging with Impact Network (two rare but important examples that happened long before today’s funding reductions)? If these types of strategic responses are happening now, please share, I hope to see more of them.

The Root of the Problem: The Market Is Upside Down

Unlike other industries, where consumer demand drives expansion and contraction, in international development, funders set the demand. That’s one reason our sector struggles to respond appropriately to shifts like this.

In publishing, changing reader habits forced companies to consolidate and restructure. In development, the voices that should be shaping the market, those we claim to serve, are not the ones setting the demand.

What Can Funders Do?

If we funders acknowledge that we have been inappropriately shaping the market, we must also take responsibility for ensuring it evolves effectively. This means asking ourselves:

• Are we using grants appropriately? Could a Program Related Investment (PRI) achieve the same outcome, preserving scarce grant funding for where it’s truly needed?

• How can we capture valuable resources and enable greater consolidation rather than allowing them to quietly disappear? How can we use our helicopter view to more effectively connect grantees, encourage collaboration, and support mergers or shared resources where they make sense?

• Can we co-mingle unrestricted funding, particularly to support networks that facilitate effective collaboration, such as Global Schools Forum ? Are we supporting locally led networks like GHANA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS – GNAPS rather than creating parallel structures?

• Can we stop requiring bespoke reporting and align evaluation efforts to reduce duplication?

• Are we investing in open-source platforms and public goods that are accessible to all, not just governments but also private sector actors? What are we doing to encourage and crowd in more private sector financing to complement public financing?

A Hard Decision at IDP Foundation

At IDP Foundation, we’ve reflected deeply on these challenges and made difficult decisions in response to this moment. We have chosen to shift all our Monitoring & Evaluation and Communications functions to be as tech-enabled as possible, leading us to restructure and reduce our dependency on these roles.

This decision, which resulted in incredibly talented individuals being made redundant in a tough job market, was not taken lightly. However, it is allowing us to free up resources for our local partners and ensure we are listening to the demands of the market we serve, rather than assuming we set those demands.

What’s Next?

International development and philanthropy must evolve. This moment demands bold action, collaboration, and a willingness to challenge outdated ways of working. If we truly believe in shifting power, then we must ask:

Are we willing to tilt the market right-side up, so that the real drivers of demand are those we claim to serve?

Are we ready to meet this moment?