The Accountability Lab is an independent, non-profit organization that works to generate sustainable development through making power-holders responsible. The Lab acts as a sounding board, listening to, analyzing and reflecting upon accountability concerns; as an independent interface, engaging relevant actors across contexts and issues; and as an operational hub, catalyzing innovative accountability tools and communities. Through this approach, the Lab bolsters efforts to address the causes rather than the symptoms of poverty, exclusion and insecurity. The Lab catalyzes tools for new and innovative approaches to bolster accountability. The team: i) Listens to problems related to accountability, and analyzes core concerns within specific contexts through careful outreach. Too often, interventions are supply-driven and do not fit with on-the-ground needs and political-economy dynamics. ii) Recognizes valuable accountability practices and builds partnerships to pilot new tools and validate fresh thinking, with an emphasis on learning from failure. In many cases, knowledge is not shared and experience is not sufficiently internalized. iii) Engages relevant actors and builds communities that can curate and propagate alternative ideas to allow for scale and impact. Collective solutions to shared issues of accountability are hindered when targeted support is not strategic, timely or durable. The Lab works with partners through three key channels: i) Accountability Change Agency. A framework through which the Lab works with civil society groups to catalyze the development of new and innovative tools at the country-level, with a particular focus on youth. ii) @ccountability Initiative. A window through which the Lab supports new ideas at the intersection of accountability and technology through collaboration with ICT experts on the ground. iii) Accountapreneurship Funds. A support mechanism through which the Lab identifies and provides financial, networking and training support to “accountapreneurs” (individuals, groups or organizations that demonstrate an entrepreneurial approach to accountability issues). The Lab is registered as a 501(c)(3) status non-profit, tax exempt organization in the United States, based in the OpenGovHub. It is currently overseen by an independent, unpaid Board of Directors and supported through a voluntary “Brain Trust” of senior advisors around the world; and “Kitchen Cabinet” of close supporters.
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