Annual Learning Event 2023
December 5 – 7, 2023
Purpose
The OCDC ICRG Annual Learning Event is designed to provide a mutual learning opportunity. It is designed to be participatory and interactive focused on issues identified by CDOs as result of their reflection on the past CDP and the new ones now starting. The ALE provides an opportunity for CDOs to strengthen their networks and form new ties within the CDP implementing partners and to reinforce a sense of community among all of us, consistent with cooperative values.
The ICRG will host a virtual session in early 2024, providing an opportunity for a broader segment of the CDP community to contribute, enhance, and bring additional value to the ALE outcomes by offering new insights and fresh perspectives. Stay tuned for further information!
Learn more about ICRG here.
ALE 2023 Goals
We will dive into three key themes in the context of past CDP learning and plans for the new 5 year cycle:
Focus on what enables truly locally led development. What does it take for the cooperatives to become vehicles of locally led development and achieve broader goals and aspirations in countries we work with and beyond. Part of this is how we use data to make policy decisions and inform program design for cooperative development, part is learning. We will explore elements of the co-op business model that are likely to provide leadership as co-ops seek to realize the aspirations of their members and the bottom-up approach supported by comparable structures across sectors.
Look at incorporating locally led development throughout a life cycle of a CDP project (from design to closeout) linking to USAID’s framework for the 5 Rs, 1) Results; 2) Roles; 3) Relationships; 4) Rules; and 5) Resources.
Address selected aspects of sustainability which is an important part of locally led development and strategies proved successful for local organizations to become sustainable or maintain their sustainability. We will probe these issues through presentations, conversations and small group discussions including by CDOs and visiting local staff and partners. Networking and relationship building will also be an integral part of this event.
Event Agenda
Tuesday, December 5
3:00pm
Arrivals and Check in, The St. Gregory Hotel
5:00 – 6:30pm
Meet and Greet Reception, St. Gregory Hotel
Living Room/ Lounge
Welcome
8:30am
Breakfast and Registration
9:00am
Welcome, Introductions, Setting the Stage
Welcome – Wangeci Gitata-Kiriga, MC
Ground Rules, MC
Introductions, All
Setting the Stage, Judith Hermanson/ICRG
WHAT DOES LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT (LLD) MEANS TO YOU? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
9:50am
Setting goals for the ALE and defining locally led development
Wangeci Gitata-Kiriga, MC
WHAT CAN THE CDP SPECIFICALLY CONTRIBUTE TO LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT?
MUTUAL LEARNING FROM THE PAST WHILE LOOKING AT THE FUTURE
10:15am
The New CDP! Each of 10 organizations presents slides – Lightning round!
11:00 – 11:20am
Break – Group Photo
11:20am
What Does USAID Envision for Locally Led Development?
Getting the Ball Rolling for ALE: One Approach – A Dialogue on Research and Evidence and how it can Support and Catalyze Locally Led Development – 35 mins, 10 mins for Q&A – (ICRG/ Dr. Judith Hermanson and CUK/ Prof. Isaac Nyamongo)
Reference: https://www.usaid.gov/documents/what-locally-led-development-fact-sheet
12:05 – 12:10pm
Wrap Up
Lunch
12:15 – 1:15pm
Lunch, Living Room Area (Lower Part)
Dessert Plus (1-1:15 pm): Guests from Kenya, Uganda, Lebanon, Guatemala, and Nigeria talk about an item to show their country pride!
INCORPORATING LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT A LIFE CYCLE OF A CDP PROJECT
1:20 – 2:30pm
Small Groups
How do we hope CDP will contribute to achieving our-long-term CDP-goal and USAID goal of making development truly locally-led?
30 mins Break into Small Groups:
Room A – SG1 – Roles – Led by Jennifer Wenborg/HP; Rapporteur Tindi Sitati, GC
Room B – SG2 – Relationships – led by Kari Onyancha/V37, Rapporteur Lydia Mutua/
Room C – SG3 – Rules – Led by Olga Oyier/GC, Rapporteur: Alan Isaac/V37
Room C- SG4 – Resources – Led by Rebecca Savoie/ICRG; Rapporteur: Hazem Harb/V37
2:30pm
Break
Networking & individual review of flip charts with 5R findings
3:00 – 3:30pm
Plenary
Judith Hermanson/ICRG | Moderator, Rapporteurs and all participants
3:30 – 4:15pm
Fireside Chat: Legacy Organizations – A look at locally led organizations: A conversation about successes in Kenya, Guatemala, Uganda, Madagascar, Poland
Wangeci | Interviewer/MC. Comment by Johnson Andinda/Uganda/HP; Camila Pinero/NCBA Guatemala-Madagascar; Barbara Czachorska-Jones/ICRG, Poland
Q&A – Let’s Dig In! What can we learn from this success?
Recap and Closing
4:15 – 4:30pm
Recap and Reflections of the Day
What is next? (dinner, tomorrow, homework, etc.)
Post-Event
5:00 – 8:00pm
Networking and Dinner at St. Gregory
Living Room/Lounge. Dinner begins at 6.
Thursday, December 7
8:00am
Breakfast
Room A – Special Table 1: Climate: how successful are local co-ops in adapting and mitigating? Led by John Adekunle, Genex guest
Room B – Special Table 2: How are program evaluations Useful? Led by Ashley Holst, GC
9:00 – 9:20am
Welcome and Reflections on Day 1
CDP AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE FOR LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COOPERATIVES
9:20 – 9:30am
Introduce the Activity
Why is this important? Once aspect of LLD is sustainability of local systems and institutions, which is complex and hard. What are we doing to work toward sustainability at various levels?
9:30 – 10:15am
Instruction: SMALL GROUPS (SG) EXPLORE AND DISCUSS SELECTED THEMES, REPORT TO PLENARY
Small Groups to discuss themes around: creating the building blocks, applying past lessons, understanding the necessary elements for cooperatives to flourish without the expectation or need of external financial assistance. How realistic is this? What is the role of CDOs and other external organizations?
1. Room A – SG1 – Helping to build stronger organizations to provide local leadership – Led by Alex Dunkel/ACDI VOCA, Rapporteur Johnson Andinda/HP
2. Room A – SG2 – Identifying and measuring the level of internal development of an organization – Led by Dalia Mehiar/Woccu, Rapporteur , Jasmine Mesidor/NCBA
3. Room B – SG3: – Exploring financial sustainability, Led by Quintin Dipine, Woccu, Rapporteur Hazem Harb/V37
4. Room B – SG 4 – Continued focus on Inclusion – how does that bear on, advance, hinder locally led development. To foster it, what groundwork needs to be done under CDP? Led by Britt Cruz/HP, Rapporteur Piper Marsh/V37
5. Room C – SG5 – Achievements beyond CDP program goals; Link to USAID’s “Progress Beyond Programs” Led by Dary Goodrich, EE, Rapporteur Abby Anderson, USAID
10:15 – 11:00am
Break – Check Out
11:00 – 11:40am
Plenary
Rebecca Skipp/Frontier | Moderator – Small groups report back to plenary, Q&As follow
11:40 – 12:10pm
TIME FOR CDO NETWORKING AROUND JOINT ACTION OPPORTUNITIES
Discuss coordination and collaboration at various levels to build on the idea of CDP as a whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
12:10 – 12:25pm
Wrap Up and Synthesis, Next Steps
Wrap Up – MC; Next steps – Judith Hermanson/ICRG
12:25pm
Concluding Remarks
Paul Hazen, OCDC Executive Director
12:30pm
Lunch at Hotel
Living Room/ Lounge
Participants
Judith A. Hermanson, PhD
Research Director, ICRG
Paul Hazen
Executive Director, OCDC
Barbara Czachorska-Jones, PhD
Learning and Training Manager, ICRG
Sylandi Brown, MA
Communications Manager, ICRG
Rebecca Savoie, PhD
Senior Researcher, ICRG
Wangeci Gitata-Kiriga
MC-Facilitator, ICRG
LuAnn Werner
Deputy Executive Director, OCDC
Nadege Besson-Rouse
Organizing Assistant, ICRG
Justin Franks
IT Consultant, ICRG
Abegail (Abby) Anderson
Communications & Knowledge Management Specialist, USAID
Professor Isaac Nyamongo
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Cooperative Development, Research and Innovation), The Co-operative University of Kenya
Dr. Lydia Mutua
Registrar Academic, Co-operative Development, Research, and innovation Division (ACDRI), The Co-operative University of Kenya
Ashley Holst
Chief of Party, CLEAR+, Global Communities
Olga Oyier
Kenya Country Team Lead and Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist, Global Communities
Tindi Sitati
Collaboration Learning & Adapting Officer, USAID (CLEAR) Cooperative Development Program, Global Communities
Kari Onyancha
Chief of Party, Cooperative Development Program, OCDC Board Chair, Land O’Lakes Venture37
Hazem Harb
Senior Program Manager, Land O’Lakes Venture37
Piper Marsh
Program Specialist, Land O’Lakes Venture37
Alan Isaac
Director of Program Management, Land O’Lakes Venture37
Dary Goodrich
Chocolate Products Manager, Equal Exchange
Quintin Dipina
Africa Portfolio Consultant, World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU)
Dalia Mehiar
MEL Manager, Financial Inclusion, World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU)
Camila Piñeiro
Co-op Development Specialist, National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA)
Jasmine Mesidor
Program Manager, National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA)
Alex Dunkel
Senior Project Coordinator, ACDI/VOCA
Britt A. Cruz
Deputy Director, HealthPartners
Jennifer Wenborg
Director, International Development, HealthPartners
Johnson Andinda
Deputy Chief of Party, HealthPartners-Uganda
Rebecca Skipp
Source Development Manager, Frontier Co-op
Gabriela Delgado
Frontier Coop Guest/FEDERCOVERA
Marcel Petrutiu
Director of Global Development, GENEX
Adekunle, John (Olayiwola)
Head of Dairy Development Operations, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria PLC
