.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
We’re a team of practitioners and thinkers. People who bring hands-on experience and solid academic grounding to every project. Whether in complex field environments or policy spaces, we deliver thoughtful, high-quality work that makes sense in context.
We see research as a tool for real change—rooted in lived experience and designed to challenge assumptions. Our approach is rigorous but inclusive, bringing evidence closer to decision-making. By connecting learning with action, and data with strategy, we help partners make sense of complexity, translate information into real-world impact and move forward with confidence in uncertain environments.
We invest in the foundations that make evidence meaningful: secure infrastructure, trusted local teams, and long-term capabilities that outlast individual projects.
In contexts where data is sensitive, politicized, or personally endagering, we take no shortcuts: how we handle data matters as much as what we find. Our end-to-end research infrastructure is designed for safety, control, and reliability—built from scratch to meet the realities of low-resource, high-surveillance contexts. We use encrypted mobile tools, secure backups, and private EU-hosted servers to protect every step of the process. No third-party dependencies. No shortcuts. Just a fully accountable system that keeps communities safe, data protected, and evidence credible.
We don’t believe in fly-in consultants. We build our people instead. That’s why we nurture and retain research teams through embedded mentorship, long-term contracts, and hands-on training. Over 1,000 professionals have grown through our programs—taking on roles in analysis, coordination, and leadership. They stay with projects long after fieldwork ends, carrying forward learning, trust, and institutional memory. It’s not just capacity building, it’s future-proofing research systems from the ground up.
Our teams are embedded where the work happens—whether that’s flood-hit wetlands, displacement camps, or remote border towns. We don’t outsource access or insight; we build it, person by person. This proximity to context means we ask better questions, speak to people in their own language and collect more meaningful data with cultural sensitivity.
We don’t parachute in consultants. We train, mentor, and grow local research talent through hands-on learning, long-term contracts, and leadership opportunities. Our roster of 1,000+ trained field staff, analysts and local experts is the backbone of our work: A community of professionals bringing institutional memory, local trust, and technical skill into each project.
From 200+ company-owned tablets to private EU-hosted servers, we’ve built a secure, fully independent research infrastructure. This lets us protect data integrity, move quickly without third-party bottlenecks, and uphold quality from design to delivery. Our systems are lean, ethical, and built for the realities of research in fragile settings.
As a social enterprise, we don’t treat impact as a by-product. A portion of our profits is reinvested in initiatives that align with the communities and themes we research: from supporting grassroots education efforts to funding localized data literacy training. We believe those closest to the issues deserve more than just a voice—they deserve a return.
