ABOUT US
Adapt Consulting LLC was launched to contribute to the ongoing movement to reform the field of international development. This movement seeks to challenge the dominant traditional paradigm, which values pre-designed, prescriptive, linear approaches to international development assistance. While this paradigm persists, governments, private sector, and philanthropic organizations engaged in this movement are experimenting with context-driven, adaptable approaches that recognize the importance of political settlement to resolve complex societal problems.
Our team has decades of field experience working directly with local communities, governments, contractors, civil society organizations, and private sector groups. We have also worked with a number of international donors such as USAID, DFID, EU, World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, and private foundations.
Our network of development professionals includes political economy specialists, researchers, evaluators, data and analytics specialists, technical innovators, subject matter experts, and regional specialists, all of whom combine innovative thinking and rigor in analyzing both the technical soundness and political feasibility of any development intervention.
We are known for our flexibility, top tier partner collaboration, and willingness to adapt to the needs and challenges of our clients.
PHILOSOPHY
We believe that sustainable development and local ownership are a product of carefully listening to the people most likely to be impacted by a development project’s investments. This requires a mentality shift by development practitioners – from an outside expert armed with “best practices” and technical solutions to a facilitator of dialogue.
We call this the informed investor approach, which emphasizes a deep understanding of the political and economic system in which the development problem exists. The informed investor is a development entrepreneur who can facilitate dialogue for a variety of people likely to benefit or potentially lose from a change in the status quo.
Adapt believes that using a more adaptive, politically astute approach to development challenges offers clients and partners greater opportunities to shape lasting outcomes and increase return on investment.
APPROACH
Adapt works across a range of development challenges, offering particular expertise in governance, economic development, social protection, agriculture, and environmental programs.
We view all development challenges within the broader political landscape. As such, we use a range of tools – applied political economy analysis, stakeholder power analysis, social network analysis, complex systems mapping, and other analytical approaches – to unpack thorny issues such as a lack of political will and conflicting incentives. We utilize these tools to provide a systematic analytical framework to develop a more thorough understanding of an issue, sector, or country. We then use the analysis to provide practical recommendations on how an investment can be locally owned and sustained over time. Adapt works with donors, contractors, and international and local NGOs to mainstream these practices into the monitoring and evaluation system over the course of the program or project life cycle.