Challenge

A large USAID contractor had no efficient and reliable way of incorporating technology and human-centered design approaches into its work.

OUTCOME

A new team and line of service that provided employees and local staff with expertise and resources and enabled them to increase the impact of their work.

OVERVIEW

Chemonics International is a corporation that currently holds the largest share of USAID’s contracts for aid work. In layman’s terms, this means that they take on the responsibility of designing and implementing hundreds of international development projects around the world, with a workforce that includes thousands of both local and US-based employees.

To do this, the company typically relies on internal subject-matter experts on topics such as education, water and sanitation, and economic development. Until 2017, however, Chemonics did not have a team that focused on helping projects integrate technology, apply human-centered design to their programming, and create structures for supporting innovation. That changed with the introduction of the Knowledge, Innovation, and Technology (KIT) team.

I was brought on as a manager with KIT in 2017 and, for the majority of my time at Chemonics, was the most senior employee on the team. In that role, I led the development of an entire line of internal services focused on innovation and digital development. This included scoping out a range of service offerings based on project and proposal needs (for example, desk research vs. in-country advisory assistance), developing resources and “out-of-the-box” tools that were flexible and easy to use, connecting with internal stakeholders who could help us identify potential opportunities, and conducting a wide variety of trainings, outreach events, and other activities designed to raise awareness of what we could offer. I collaborated closely with other team members to do so, including recruiting, hiring, and managing multiple junior professionals and interns.

Our team went from providing services to zero projects and proposals in early 2017 to a cumulative total of 20+ by the time I left in 2020. Over time, as our reputation became more established, the work we were asked to do also expanded; examples included training local Afghan staff on user research, helping a Tajik education program identify e-library platforms, and designing a “legal innovations incubator” within the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. We also served as the lead in helping Chemonics adopt the Principles for Digital Development, an industry-wide set of norms and rules for tech usage in international development, and provided workshops and classes on topics such as user research and tech sustainability for teams all over the world. While the team has since changed names since my time with the company, those who are part of it continue to provide these critical services for Chemonics’ projects across the globe.