LINC

What does local leadership require in practice?

Our research from Ghana offers an important lesson: moving more funding and decision-making to local institutions can strengthen development outcomes—but it also requires the right award structures, institutional support, management capacity, and attention to who actually holds power.

In our latest article, LINC looks at what these lessons could mean as the U.S. rebuilds its foreign-assistance system.

State inherited the aid portfolio. It should inherit the learning, too.

State Inherited the Aid Portfolio. It Should Also Inherit the Lessons. What research from Ghana tells us about building local leadership into the next U.S. foreign-assistance system.

We’re excited to share LINC’s January newsletter and to start 2026 with some big news.

This issue reflects an important new chapter for LINC, including our merger with Acacia Global Consulting, expanded regional leadership, and new philanthropic partnerships. It also highlights recent and ongoing work that shows how we’re continuing to evolve and lead in a changing global development landscape.

Take a look at what we’ve been up to and where we’re headed next:
👉 https://mailchi.mp/linclocal/newsletter-january-17237027

Thanks to all of our partners and colleagues who continue to be a part of this journey.

Newsletter January 2026 LINC and Acacia Global Consulting Merge to Advance Locally Led Development Worldwide – As we enter a new year, LINC is proud to announce its merger with Acacia Global Consulting, an Ethiopia-based firm with deep roots in Africa and a strong record in research, learning, facilitation, market system...

💭 As generative AI becomes a constant in how we approach daily tasks, as development professionals, we can't lose sight of the risks that AI may pose to our responsibilities toward our practice and the communities whom we are working to help.

How do we navigate biases in AI tools? Are we safeguarding data privacy in fragile contexts? And how do we ensure AI truly supports localization rather than reinforcing existing inequities?

In our latest blog, our Technical Director, Matt Klick, PhD. shares his thoughts on GenAI and International Development and makes a case for caution when using AI in our line of work.

📖 Read the full blog below and share your thoughts with us.
https://buff.ly/3PBcjC2

Getting Real About Artificial Intelligence: GenAI, Evaluation in International Development, and the Case for Caution If localization means leadership, agency, and at least consultation in...

We are excited to announce that LINC has been awarded the GSA OASIS+ contract.

As a holder of a GSA OASIS+ Small Business contract, LINC stands ready to provide services to USAID and other U.S. Government Agencies under the broad “Management and Advisory” domain, which covers advisory services and project implementation.

LINC's partner under this contract is Athena Infonomics

Learn more:

LINC Awarded the GSA OASIS+ Contract The objective of OASIS+ is to provide Government agencies with integrated solutions for a range of service-based requirements on a global basis.

Read LINC's latest newsletter and stay up to date on our work 👉

Newsletter July - December 2024 LINC, Corporación ECOSS, and the Gerry Roxas Foundation Selected as Finalists in USAID’s 2024 CLA Case Competition – In September, USAID Learning Lab announced that LINC, Corporación ECOSS (ECOSS), and the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF) were finalists of its 2024 CLA Case Competition. The LINC, ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

How Should We Manage the Unintended Consequences of Local Capacity Strengthening?

The seventh and final entry of LINC’s focuses on USAID - US Agency for International Development’s Local Capacity Strengthening Policy Principle No. 6: Be mindful of and mitigate the unintended consequences of our support for local capacity strengthening. This principle reminds us to identify and acknowledge that and local systems are often shaped by systemic power imbalances that can create and result in unintended harm.

We reflect on how we, partners, must take the time to develop an understanding of how local dynamics affect programming, how programming can reinforce existing imbalances or exacerbate competition or conflict, and how we should adapt accordingly.

🔗 Read more: https://buff.ly/3OvZkRv

linclocal.org

La semana pasada, durante la “Semana de la Evaluación” en , USAID México y presentaron los resultados de la Evaluación de Medio Término del marco bilateral "Sembrando Oportunidades”. La evaluación, realizada por la Actividad , implementada por LINC, con identificó fortalezas y oportunidades tanto en los resultados programáticos de la implementación en y como en la colaboración entre las dos agencias y sus proyectos.

Representantes de ambas agencias compartieron cómo los hallazgos y las recomendaciones de la evaluación ya están impulsando ajustes significativos en su colaboración y en la implementación, fortaleciendo su impacto y asegurando un enfoque basado en la evidencia. Además, ambas agencias reafirmaron su dedicación a seguir aprendiendo y adaptándose para maximizar los resultados de , demostrando que la evaluación no es un fin, sino un inicio del ciclo de mejora continua.

🔗 Click en el siguiente link para acceder al reporte en español.

pdf.usaid.gov