From Paper to Territory – and from Territory to the Screen

Thinking about this challenge from the very beginning, it was an easy thing: to make a documentary about El Yuguelito and the on-the-ground work through the CivActs methodology. Also, one that could expose the structural failures of participation mechanisms in Mexico City and serve as a portrait of urban inequality. And to do it as a civil society organization without any real audiovisual production capacity, while running two other programs at the same time, under budget limitations; oh, and with a four-person team. Did that discourage us? Not at all. But it was clear that every step we took [...]

2026-06-26T11:03:16+00:0026th June 2026|

(Del Papel Al Territorio) Y del Territorio a la Pantalla

Abordar este desafío no fue, desde el comienzo, cosa fácil: realizar un documental sobre El Yuguelito y el trabajo en territorio a través de la metodología CivActs, que permitiera evidenciar las fallas estructurales de los mecanismos de participación en la CDMX y sirviera, también, como un retrato de la desigualdad urbana. Y hacerlo como organización de la sociedad civil; es decir, sin capacidad real de producción audiovisual, implementando otros dos programas de forma simultánea, con restricciones presupuestales; ah, y con un equipo de cuatro personas. ¿Eso nos desincentivó? Para nada. Pero estaba claro que cada paso que diéramos tenía [...]

2026-06-26T11:00:58+00:0026th June 2026|

Frecuencias de Cambio: Sobre música, narrativas y por qué el artivismo importa

Antes de que una sociedad cambie sus leyes, sus instituciones o sus políticas, suele cambiar las historias que cuenta sobre sí misma. Cambian las preguntas que considera legítimas, las voces que escucha, los futuros que es capaz de imaginar y las injusticias que deja de aceptar como inevitables. La música ha acompañado muchos de esos procesos. Ha dado lenguaje a experiencias compartidas, ha ayudado a construir identidad colectiva y ha circulado ideas allí donde otros discursos encuentran límites. La música ha jugado un papel determinante en mi propia vida. En un entorno restrictivo, fue de las primeras cosas que [...]

2026-06-26T09:23:07+00:0026th June 2026|

Proving the Theory – Five years of celebrating Good Governance Heroes in Somaliland

We catch people doing the right thing, then “name and fame” them for it, all on the assumption that telling the stories of do-gooders is contagious and encourages others to do the same. After 14 years, and 15 locations, we added Integrity Icon Somaliland as the 16th to spread the stories of public servants who go above and beyond to serve their communities. Later rebranded as the Good Governance Heroes Campaign – the campaign’s premise is that making integrity visible, aspirational, and socially celebrated could shift how citizens think and talk about public life. Five years on, the evidence [...]

2026-06-11T12:31:11+00:0011th June 2026|

¿Quién vigila las reglas del juego? Nuestra experiencia haciendo observación ciudadana

Durante el 2025 acompañamos a la comunidad de Yuguelito, en Iztapalapa, en su primera ocasión involucrándose en el Presupuesto Participativo (PP) de la Ciudad de México. Sin embargo, las cosas no salieron como esperábamos. El proyecto propuesto por la comunidad fue rechazado bajo argumentos poco claros y contradictorios, entre los que destacaba la condición de irregularidad del asentamiento, el cual no constituye un criterio oficial. Esta experiencia nos dejó claro que existe una enorme brecha entre lo que se diseña y lo que realmente pasa en territorio. Esto significó tanto señalar los vacíos legales, como visibilizar que las condiciones [...]

2026-06-08T13:11:52+00:008th June 2026|

Who watches the rules of the game? Our experience as citizen observers

Throughout 2025, we accompanied the community of Yuguelito in Iztapalapa as they participated for the first time in Mexico City's Participatory Budgeting (PB). Things did not go as expected, however. The project the community put forward was rejected on vague and contradictory grounds, most notably the settlement's irregular status, which is not an official eligibility criterion. This experience made clear to us the enormous gap between what is designed on paper and what actually happens on the ground. It meant not only pointing out legal loopholes, but also making visible that the conditions for exercising the right to participate [...]

2026-06-08T13:05:43+00:008th June 2026|

Uprooting the Old Guard: Can Nepal’s Youngest Cabinet Ever Break an Entrenched Kleptocracy?

In Nepal,  corruption has morphed into sophisticated, institutionalized kleptocracy. It is a system through which the state’s structures, culture, and hierarchies are engineered to serve a parasitic elite. For decades, the arbitrary conduct of our leaders and a systemic lack of accountability has shattered public trust. But now,  a new Gen-Z movement, catalyzed by years of state-sponsored dysfunction, has overturned the old political regime. Unlike the aftermath of uprisings in Indonesia, Madagascar, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and elsewhere – where youth-led movements often struggled to institutionalize their gains – Nepal is finding itself on a different path. In Bangladesh, [...]

2026-05-29T10:34:30+00:0029th May 2026|

Accountability Lab’s Co-CEO model teaches us surprising lessons about shared leadership

As organizations confront increasing complexity and global collaboration, leadership models are evolving. At Accountability Lab, our three Co-CEOs reflect on what it takes to build a shared leadership structure as we launch a free toolkit for others interested in co-leadership models.

2026-05-28T21:16:51+00:0026th May 2026|

Nadie migra con la voz intacta

“¿Y si intentamos convertir sus historias en canciones?”. Lanzamos la pregunta al aire en nuestro salón de trabajo, que en realidad era la capilla de la Casa del Migrante Arcángel Rafael, donde decidimos desarrollar el proyecto. No hubo demasiado entusiasmo al responder. Algunas personas rieron, como diciendo “eso no es para mí”; otras se miraron entre ellas en complicidad. La mayoría no había escrito nunca una canción. Sin embargo, hubo quienes, a pesar de las dudas y las dificultades de su proceso migratorio, decidieron darle una oportunidad a una experiencia que todavía estaba tomando forma, pero que ya parecía [...]

2026-05-26T09:39:51+00:0026th May 2026|

No one migrates with their voice untouched

“What if we tried turning your stories into songs?” We threw the question into the air in our workspace, which was actually the chapel at Casa del Migrante Arcángel Rafael, where we decided to develop the Music4Change pilot. The response was far from enthusiastic. Some people laughed, as if to say, “That’s not for me.” Others exchanged knowing looks. Most had never written a song before. And yet, despite their doubts and the difficulties of their migration journeys, some decided to give this experience a chance, even as it was still taking shape, already sensing it had the potential [...]

2026-05-26T09:35:15+00:0026th May 2026|
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