Dear colleagues,
As we wind up what has been a long and tumultuous year for the entire development community, we would like to thank you for your engagement and support over the past few months since the launch of the Roundtable in September on the sidelines of UNGA.
Since then, we have been working with many of you to better understand the current development landscape and have developed the Four Shifts framework to help us structure our collective thinking and position field and funder engagements.
This work has included holding two Shift Exploration Calls—on building a new era of international cooperation and remodeling development financing flows—both of which drew engaged participants and surfaced critical questions about the path forward. We also mapped more than 70 related initiatives and projects, and undertook some rapid analysis to understand where there are gaps and opportunities for collective philanthropic action. We also hope our monthly newsletters have helped you stay abreast of the many urgent and challenging discussions and shifts underway.
Your feedback and engagement have been invaluable, and we are looking forward to starting 2026 with renewed energy and commitment. The Secretariat team will be off from Friday, December 19, until January 5. We hope many of you will also be able to take some much-deserved rest over the new year (and see you on our January 13 call!)
Warmly,
Nicole, Mariam & Michael
What's Emerging Across the Field: Four Must-Reads for Your December Break from Across the Four Shifts
A final sweep of 60 years of evidence reveals durable truths about how development succeeds and fails. As USAID faced closure, researchers used AI to analyze six decades of evaluation data. This Stanford Social Innovation Review article extracts critical insights that might otherwise have been lost. The analysis identifies patterns in what drives development success and failure, offering a data-driven foundation for future cooperation models.
CONCORD's latest report, “AidWatch 2025”, documents how countries are increasingly cutting ODA budgets while prioritizing national interests, and weakening the multilateral system precisely when global challenges demand stronger cooperation. The report offers ten concrete recommendations for EU institutions to democratize ODA governance, reform reporting mechanisms, and restore effectiveness at a moment when human-generated crises—economic, social, and climate-related—are testing the resilience of international cooperation.
Mariana Mazzucato argues that meeting Paris Agreement targets hinges not on new promises but on building state capacity to implement existing commitments. She contends that climate finance must shift focus toward strengthening governments' ability to translate national sustainable-development plans into measurable outcomes. The question isn't whether we have enough commitments—it's whether we're building the institutional infrastructure to deliver on them. Read the full commentary at Project Syndicate.
Trust-based philanthropy calls for support beyond the check, but how funders can provide it strategically and with genuine care often remains unclear. Former TAI Steering Commitee member Laura Bacon at the Center for Effective Philanthropy explores practical approaches to deepening partnerships through non-financial support—from capacity building to advocacy to network connections—that honor grantees' expertise while creating meaningful value. The piece offers concrete guidance for funders seeking to move from transactional relationships toward authentic partnership.
Save the Date
We hope your foundation will be represented on our January 13 Roundtable Leadership Call at 8 am PT/11 EDT/4 GMT/5 CET - starting the new year with ideas and energy on how philanthropy can best support innovative and impactful development conversations and action in 2026. We will present our latest headline analysis of current investments as a spark for discussion on how best to build on what is now in play.