Shift the Power

Our Shift-the-Power efforts are part of a larger movement. We are one of many.

We founded WeRobotics to counter the foreign-first, top-down, and techno-centric approach that pervades the social good sector, from aid and development to health and the environment. As others have said before us, the goal of the social good sector must be to end need, not just meet need. This means, for example, that international organizations (including small ones like WeRobotics) must have a transition plan that is “centered around devolving power, money and voice to local organizations.” On this page, we share our strategies and progress towards shifting our own power as well as our contribution to systems change towards a more equal, diverse and inclusive power balance in the international aid and development sectors.

Integrated Strategy

The combination of the Local First, Inclusive Networks and the Power Pledge strategies will serve as our concrete and measurable contribution to overall systems change. As each of these interconnected strategies begin to bear fruit, we will document our collective learnings in the form of the Power Shift Canvas and Handbook. The Canvas and accompanying Handbook will summarize our experiences and learnings (both success and failures) and provide a step-by-step hands-on guide openly available for other organisations. By documenting our systems change approach in a digestible, easy-to-follow format based on lived experience, we want to pave the way for a high number of other international organisations to shift their power with a set of readily applicable and tested solutions.

Local First

WeRobotics has served as the primary enabler of the Flying Labs Network since it’s co-creation 5 years ago. It is now time to take the next logical step to expand the positive impact of the network by co-creating an independent and locally-led enabler and facilitator of the Network. Expanding this impact requires a shift in power. Our collective plan with Flying Labs is therefore to co-create an independent legal entity (FlyingLabs.org), and for this entity to become the primary enabler of the Network. To ensure the success of this transition and the sustainability of the Network, we have planned for a transition period of 4 years.

Inclusive Networks

The Flying Labs Network is just one example of an Inclusive Network. Other organizations can also co-create their own Inclusive Network for their localisation strategies and more importantly, to shift their power, by drawing on the inclusive models that have powered the Flying Labs Network for the past 5+ years. Multiple international organizations have already expressed an interest in doing just this.

Power Pledge

We co-created the Flying Labs Network and the Inclusive Networks model because we want to reduce our “power footprint”. A power footprint is the disproportionate power that White-led, Western-based international organizations have gained over local organizations in the social good industries of humanitarian aid, global development and beyond. The Power Pledge calls on White executives of Western-based organizations to measure and reduce their power footprint.