Facilitating dialogue, partnership & co-creation with stakeholders across sectors.

Partners: USAID GenDev · USAID INVEST · USAID Colombia · Design Thinkers Group USA · Pro Mujer

Challenge

USAID’s Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (USAID GenDev), USAID INVEST, and USAID Colombia needed help designing and running USAID’s first virtual “Whole System in a Room” workshop to prepare stakeholders to apply for a program to help increase women’s access to commercial finance in Antioquia, Colombia.

Approach

Contexto partnered with Design Thinkers Group USA and Pro Mujer to design a virtual workshop to facilitate dialogue and formation of partnerships among a variety of stakeholders in Antioquia, Colombia. We helped the project sponsors narrow the program beneficiary focus to rural women entrepreneurs in Antioquia, conducted research and developed a system map of the region to identify key challenges and opportunities for change.

The multi-session virtual workshop included brief plenary sessions and emphasized a series of interactive breakout activities for stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of key issues, co-create solution concepts, and establish consortia to apply to USAID’s GenDev program.

Outcome

We managed participant recruitment and participation of 70 representatives from over 40 Colombian organizations including public and private sector, NGOs, micro-entrepreneurs, and Indigenous communities. The multi-session workshop was delivered over the span of three weeks. In addition, we hosted virtual coaching sessions to provide guidance to participants on partnerships and the application process.

After the workshop, participants consolidated their partnerships and applied for the program. USAID INVEST distributed $2 million among winning consortia to fulfill the mission of the program.