Feedback Loop

I am a New Zealand mother who has lived and worked on every continent, in humanitarian and development contexts as a Child Protection specialist and increasingly in global management positions. I have led emergency responses across the world including the Tsunami in Indonesia, Ebola in West Africa, drought in the East Africa, conflict etc...

This personal journey has bought me to a place recently where I gave up my senior role because the higher up the ladder I had climbed and the more decision making tables I sat on, the more uncomfortable I felt being a part of a global ecosystem where the rhetoric and evidence does not match the structures, decisions and funding flows. I have set up a small charity and am dedicating my energy to creating a platform to raise People's voices in a safe, open and transparent manner so that we can all listen and learn.

The needs and perspectives of the most marginalised, vulnerable and under served people are not effectively incorporated into the design and funding of services aimed at supporting them.  They are treated as charitable beneficiaries rather than active agents of change.

Loop believes that everyone has an opinion about the support and services that they receive and that the more they are involved the more impact the support will have. Therefore, it is our constant endeavour to find ways for them to feel confident and able to share their views in a safe, meaningful, and transparent manner, so that it informs and affects positive social change at a local, national and global level to elevate all of humanity.

We will provide an accessible, open, inclusive and secure digital infrastructure that enables equitable transparent ongoing communication between the most marginalised, vulnerable and under served people and those with power who make decisions. 

Report after report shows that the needs and perspectives of the most marginalised, vulnerable and under served people are not effectively incorporated into the design and funding of services aimed at supporting them (People Driven Response, CGD; From the Ground Up, HPG).  They are treated as charitable beneficiaries rather than active agents of change. 

This occurs globally across the development and humanitarian sector. Evidenced by commitments to the Grand Bargain Participation Revolution in the Humanitarian Sector and #ShiftThePower in the Development sector. 

It is a problem because:

People feel marginalised, not listened to, and are not having their basic needs met in the most effective way for them.

Donors funds could be used to deliver greater impact if we listened to user feedback.

Service providers could build trust and engage with communities to be able to access populations, to empower sustainability and local ownership of solutions, and to deliver higher quality support if they were able to listen more.

Solution: The loop platform is:

• for anyone to initiate feedback
• from anywhere they want
• at any time
• on what is important to them
• if they are asked to or not
• on a device they are already using or have access to.

Loop is:

• Free to use for service providers and service users.
• Can be anonymous.
• Easy to use and provides notifications if there is a message.
• Available on any device the individual or community is already using.
• Translated into English, Arabic, French and Spanish and other languages based on funding.
• Sensitive information will be sent to the appropriate referral pathway and not posted on line.

Loop is different to anything currently in the sector: it does not rely on having field staff present, it is independent, and it is a permanent global tool that is not dependent on short term funding cycles. Loop is complementary to, and can collaborate with, other existing feedback mechanisms. 

It is based on four design principles: 1) Decentralised control (anyone can initiate feedback), 2) Open data (anyone can see it), 3) Open Dialogue (anyone can engage with the feedback) and 4) Our People, Our Voices (Loop is governed by people who come from affected contexts).

The first pilot is ongoing in Zambia and the Philippines. We are exploring funding for Yemen and Somalia. Our prototypes are coordinated through existing large local networks of civil society actors and can therefore be implemented during COVID lockdowns.

We employ User Centred Design approaches so that local populations can help shape the platform. For Loop to have the biggest impact on vulnerable, under served and marginalised populations globally we need it to add value to three key stakeholders.  We will be including feedback from all stakeholders during every phase of the build: Affected populations, service providers (NGOs, UN, Red Cross, public authorities etc) and donors.

Feedback shared on the Loop platform will help to improve the quality and effectiveness of projects and services for affected populations. It will help them to raise the experiences, concerns and feedback in an open transparent way to affect positive change. It will give them greater dignity and voice.  Research suggests it may have a positive impact on the culture of service providers due to more meaningful engagement and it will enable New Power through the open and transparent use of data and identifying trends in feedback.

Loop works across all of the Dimensions:

1) Loop will work tirelessly and endlessly on the digital divide to find ways to develop lofi solutions for people to share their views, eg: translation, device sharing, voice to text technology, strong data protection considerations and anonymity.

2) Who better to elevate issues and build awareness of solutions than the people being affected through an open transparent global platform. 

3) Sharing the real time views and experiences of affected people will help to influence and change donors, service providers and decision makers attitudes and beliefs about what is or is not working.

Over the last years the battle cry for greater engagement with local populations has been growing. From the Humanitarian Charter (2000) and the Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles (2003), to the Transformative Agenda (2005), followed by the findings of the Listening Project (2012). Then more recently, there was a lot of focus in the World Humanitarian Summit resulting in the Grand Bargain Participation Revolution (2016) and now the increasingly accepted Core Humanitarian Standards and the #ShiftThePower movement being mainstreamed across discussions. Report after report recommends greater engagement of local populations.

During this time, and dating back over 10 years, there have been suggestions of a 'Trip Adviser for the Humanitarian Sector' or some sort of oversight rating body/ Ombudsman to assess and rate the effectiveness of service providers. This never got further than think tanks or papers. 

The Loop idea comes from the same core identified need but uses technology that has been developed and tested over this time period and significantly focuses on incentivising greater engagement rather than a gaming of ratings. I took learning from from my work in the Red Cross and my frustrations in the power structures that I was a part of.  

My own personal journey has bought me to a place recently where I gave up my good salary, safe job and pension to set up this small charity. I felt like I couldn’t continue doing what I was doing because it didn’t feel right or sit well with me. The higher up the ladder I climbed and the more decision making tables I sat on, the more uncomfortable I felt being part of a global ecosystem where the rhetoric and evidence does not match the structures, decisions and funding flows. COVID funding has reinforced this fault line.

As a leader I have been described as someone who gives away power and who leads from behind.  In senior roles I tried to do what I believed was right but it wasn't enough. I got increasingly frustrated with sticking plasters and token solutions. I was energised by the approaches in the tech sector such as iterative design and dispersed management as well as the impressive changes occuring from  leaderless New Power, such as #metoo.

I tried to house Loop in other existing institutions but when that failed I thought: 'but someone has to do it' and so that person is me. 

I have a masters in Educational Psychology and another in International Affairs and Diplomacy. I have worked for over 20 years across the globe in national and international NGOs and International Organisations. My last role was the Director of Programs and Partnership at the British Red Cross where I managed over 200 staff £67 million pound budgets and the team responded to all of the worlds largest crisis.

I am well networked with key humanitarian and development actors and I know how to get access, articulate myself and influence people in this space. 

I am passionate about the cause and have as much skin in the game as is possible to make Loop a success having given up everything in my career and successfully rallied an impressive Governing Board and Advisory Board to support the initiative. 

I expect to learn a lot through the process and for a lot of the details to evolve and improve based on a diverse range of peoples feedback but I will unapologetically stick to the core design principles of decentralised control, open data, open dialogue and Our voices our people as these are the elements that shift the power where it needs to be and will bring a multiplier effect.

I have been setting up Loop in a way that reflects the kind of structures I believe will result in the best outcomes.  One example is the relatively obvious decision to have a Governing Board of people who come from and have lived experience of humanitarian or development action affecting their lives, their families and their community’s. However, I have encountered resistance and massive structural barriers, including: the counter terrorism legislation which meant that opening a bank account with the Governing Board members had been, until a week ago, impossible, simply because they have passports from Yemen, Uganda, Syria or Mali.  

To get the Board members legally registered we had to find work arounds to a system made for westerners: The computer form required an address with a postcode, there are not postcodes in some countries. The proof of address needed a utility bill showing their physical address. It took us three times as long and involved twice as many people people we got there. 

Finally I could have had funding by now if I had accepted those in power to be on the Governing Board. I am resolute in shifting the power and building the right long term foundations.

Not so good at speaking about myself, below is a public note shared on International Woman's day about me: 

Alex is a force of nature, with seemingly boundless energy; inspiring without realising. Her model of leadership in action proactively supports her teams whilst challenging or questioning when needed to ensure we are doing or trying to do the right thing. She believes in equity of voice and actively amplifies the opinions of others which may otherwise go unheard. Generous of time, spirit and energy. 

Alex holds a Senior position in the organisation. It is one of the toughest, busiest unforgiving roles and yet this incredible woman holds together the entire International Directorate with grace. She keeps up to date and is incredibly informed about every single issue which enables her to provide valued advice and take decisions on behalf of British Red Cross.

In addition... she is a dedicated and present mother... supports refugee and asylum seekers... and is setting up her own initiative (Loop). All with only 24 hours in a day and a smile on her face.

Thank you Alex for what you do to continue to show that there is no limit to what women can accomplish.

There is currently no other service competing with Loop to raise the voices of marginalised, vulnerable and under-served populations. Also there is no other feedback service that has more than one of the design criteria: Open data, Decentralised control and Open dialogue. 

Loop is the only feedback mechanism that is based primarily on technology and does not have a team in each context leading and engaging with others to gather the feedback.  This minimal physical presence is important to be able to scale a global digital platform

Loop is one of the few approaches which is sector and context wide. For example, some platforms are designed specifically for refugees, internal to an organisation or service (such as a specific hospital).  Loop is not dependent on a project, emergency response or other Inter Agency presence. It is available before during and after any crisis and is available anywhere there is text messaging or internet access.

Finally, Loop aims to work in collaboration with other actors in this space to better coordinate and encourage feedback across the board. For example: feedback related to a specific Hospital or refugees can be forwarded onto the organisation working on this issue and integrated into their analysis. In addition, any organisation could promote the use of Loop to gather additional feedback after their face to face interactions and integrate this directly into their data. We could combine data at the macro level with others: BBC action, Internews, Ground Truth Solutions.

The current business incentives and power structures reinforce and maintain harmful and dis-empowering attitudes and behaviours. This includes:

• Funding flows which are: Top down and indirect; Hard for local actors to access due to complex application requirements and processes; Provide insufficient time or flexibility for deep community engagement and ownership.
• Primacy of financial accountability: Legal and financial accountability takes primacy, with people level impact being at a subordinate level; People do not have an ability to feedback on what has or has not worked well; and there is no requirement for authentic community ownership which is known to increase sustainability.
• A hierarchical ecosystem of actors with: Existing local structures and approaches weakened by International Actors and financing flows; Community voices not available; Ingrained biases about who holds expert knowledge and 'capacity' or lack thereof.

If people's feedback was more readily available in an open transparent manner, it could impact decision making in relation to funding flows, provide data to support a new accountability paradigm which values people level impact and feed into an inclusive and equitable ecosystem with a deeper understanding and awareness of what is working as well as challenges different people face.

This is based on the assumption that donors funding decisions and service providers want to deliver services that affected populations want and value, and that if available this information would be used at different levels to improve service delivery, program design and funding decisions. 

It also assumes that those who currently benefit from the existing business incentives and power structures would enable and value, or at least not fight, other potential levers of influence and that Loop could be designed in a way that minimises the potential for feedback to be gamed or other harmful behaviours to result.

Loop is possible only because we can now communicate at a massive scale directly with people we are trying to help. There is an opportunity to use this technology to create long term systemic changes, to support people to be active agents of positive change rather than passive recipients and to radically improve our current accountability models. 

We are currently prototyping and testing with 100 people. Including 70 local people from Zambia and the Philippines, CSOs and donors.

In one year we will work across 5 contexts with 10,000 pieces of feedback from 7000 people, primarily people from affected communities and service providers. We will track and evidence the impact that this has.

In five years we want to have a million hits to the site a year across all continents and in 10 years 100 million hits.

Rough calculations suggest the Impact of Loop long term is 490,000 people per annum, through:

• Improved dignity by having a choice
• Improved services through feedback being listened to and researchers finding evidence of what is working or not
• Improved trust and engagement between citizens and organisations
• Improved culture within organisations.

Of the 100 million people using the platform when it is at scale, we estimate 50% will live on under $2 per day and 70% on under $5. The direct measurable benefit per person will only be perceptible, 1% = 700,000 people per year. The probability of success is 70% with the Investing for Good survey rating Loop as an Impact Improver. 70% of 700,000 = 490,000 people per annum.

Our Wildly Ambitious Goals are: A global platform that is driving social change and increasing dignity and understanding worldwide, with 100 million hits a year, that is free to use and 100% self-sustainable.

First we must develop and prototype the platform interfaces with affected populations (In Zambia, the Philippines, Yemen and possibly Somalia or other contexts) as well as service providers and donors. We will do this in phases:

1. English speaking people with web access. 
2. English speaking people who use WhatsApp or Facebook.
3. People who speak Spanish, Arabic or French.
4. People who speak a local lesser used language.
5. People who have access to free texting only (through their own or a shared phone).
6. Illiterate populations who speak one of the translated languages and who have access to a phone to send a free text.
7. An established and tested mechanism for safe guarding referrals

Funding dependent we could have tested and rolled out technology for all of the above areas within 2 years. 

By next year we will have calculated the core costs of Loop at scale with an analysis of potential income streams from advertising etc.

Within 5 years we expect to be operating at scale with a clear vision of how to achieve a sustainable and independent revenue model to cover ongoing costs longer term. Loop will be used across all 5 continents and have evidence of the impact of Loop and open transparent feedback, to positively affect the humanitarian and development ecosystem at a local and global level.

We could be moving significantly faster if we had funding to invest in the design and development of the tech infrastructure. 

We are noticing an increased pressure on funding for service providers coupled with overloaded staff due to the global COVID response, affecting and slowing down meaningful planned discussions on new approaches such as Loop.

We have skills and a plan to manage some of the other complex contextual issues of trialling Loop such as language, cultural acceptance, access by marginalised groups etc. our approach of using networks of local civil society actors means we can continue even with COVID travel restrictions.

I receive requests on a weekly basis from local actors asking if they can use Loop already, so demand and options of places to pilot Loop is not a barrier.

The uptake from donors and service providers such as INGOs needs to be managed but with a live example from the first pilot, I have confidence this can be managed successfully.

Data protection issues needed to be very well thought through but we have the skills in the development team to address those at the right time. Similarly with Safeguarding we have a plan with the right structure to manage these and we will learn as we go.

We will benefit from zero rated telecoms global deal and have discussions with GSMA to help us evolve to that. 

Funding is the real blocker at the moment to move faster.

1) Funding. I am applying widely and in partnership with others to access diverse funding opportunities.  I am also working with wide groups of people to raise the awareness of Loop as a tool that people can soon use to affect change.

2) Pressure on funding: I need to be patient (not a fortait!) and to clearly articulate the added value, cost savings and transformative potential of Loop. I am looking for communications support to develop a video and my pitch.

3) Data protection: I have agreements from others working in the tech humanitarian space to exchange tech staff to ensure cross learning of skills and approaches during the build and ongoing management of the platform

4) Telecoms: Support, advice and guidance on negotiating this with the MNOs will be helpful. We are also seeking a representative from an operator on our advisory Board.

5) Business model: I need a pilot and then some funds to get a business analyst to help establish a core costs budget for Loop at scale as well as exploring potential income revenue options (advertising) and their potential for income over time.

We have a strong Governing Board and Advisory Board to bring in key partners when necessary. I am still looking for an Asia and a Latin American representative for the Board as well as a Government Donor, tech sector and telecoms operator for the Advisory Board. The Boards cover the UN, Red Cross, INGO networks, NGO networks, think tanks and Foundations.

For each country we have a specific network as well:

In Zambia we are partnering with the Zambian Governance Foundation who are a network of 140 local civil society organisations and lead the coordination of trialling Loop in Zambia.

In the Philippines we are partnering with the Disaster Risk Reduction Network who are a national network of 1200 local civil society organisations and have a mandated role to inform the government, from the voices of affected populations, on how to improve policy and programs. 

In Yemen we are working with the UN OCHA office as well as the Mayar Foundation for Development, a local organisation delivering services for all UN bodies in Yemen and a desire to improve feedback mechanisms.

In Somalia we are looking at joint funding bids with the NEXUS consortium which is a consortium of 9 local NGOs who are re-imagining what Aid could look like and proposing new ways of working and supporting infrastructure.

The underlying design principle is that Loop is as accessible as possible and therefore free to users of the platform.  It will be free to service providers and act as a neutral organisation to ensure that all feedback is independent.

Loops presence will not be dependent on Emergency response funds or funding proposals. Therefore, Loop does not aim to compete in emergency response funding rounds or project grants once it has reached a certain scale.  It will not be competing with organisations for funding on monitoring and evaluation and feedback mechanisms at a context or response level.  The service needs to be there as a permanent tool for people to know about, trust and learn how to effectively use. For this reason the business model must be separate and reliable.

Loop’s long term sustainable business model will include the below mixed income streams: 

• Revenue from advertising on the site (managed through a subsidiary organisation that reinvests all income to Loop)
• Fee for detailed analytics of the data
• Fee from for profit organisations using widgets from the site to reference feedback (Just Giving).
• Fee for donors (collectively for the initiative, or by country)
• Donations by supporters including crowd funding for specific aspects.
• In kind donations or volunteering.
• Open contributions of support from organisations using the tool for free (Wikipedia approach)
• Ideally, we will develop a strong brand and large following, which makes it a useful asset for wealthy private sector companies to want to be associated with.

For the Start Up phase, we will seek grants from innovative change makers for two years with a budget of £1.5 million in total. Probono time from experienced professional tech designers could significantly reduce this budget.

At the end of this period there will be:

• a tech infrastructure which is built to be able to scale.
• clarity on if this has a high chance of success at scale (buy in from the sector).
• evidence linking adaptation of services and improved satisfaction scores as a result of feedback.
• greater understanding of income revenue against costs when Loop has reached Scale, and
• a commitment from key donors for the Scale Up phase. 

Our minimal running costs are currently covered for 2020. 

All funds received will go into building the infrastructure and prototyping new features (translations, SMS, WhatsApp etc). The more funds we receive the more we can build, test, improve and evidence and the more countries we can pilot in with our growing list of interested partners.

We hope to get an additional $500,000 in 2020 and $700,000 for 2021.

Longer term we aim to have income revenue streams from advertising, data scientists delivering reports etc to cover core costs.

We have secured a grant from Humanity United. for 2020 we have $150,000 which will be received shortly. They will unlock the same amount for 2021 if we reach some specific milestones including other grants.

Everything that has been done to date has been done by volunteers and people committed to the end vision.

The more funding we receive the more quickly we can get to a full proof of concept and a built and tested infrastructure to start to roll Loop out at scale. 

With the funding we have received we can build and test phase one only. We are actively seeking more funds for other phases.

If we are able to secure an additional $500,000 in 2020 and $700,000 for 2021. we can get to proof of concept within 2 years as planned.

We have split up the funding into phases to start with:

1. English speaking people with web access. FUNDED
2. English people who use WhatsApp or Facebook. $100,000
3. People who speak Spanish, Arabic or French. $50,000
4. People who speak a local lesser used languages. $200,000
5. People who have access to free texting only (through their own or a shared phone). $100,000
6. Illiterate populations who speak one of the translated languages and who have access to a phone to send a free text. TBD

In addition to these design and development costs we need to secure revenue to: 

1) coordinate and manage in country visits, 

2) monitor and evaluate the different phases, 

3) develop advertising and marketing campaigns in country, 

4) test and respond to safe guarding feedback, 

5) cover ongoing text and translation costs in each context 

6) cover project managers and basic overhead costs

7) bring in a business analyst to explore our long term income revenue model.

We currently have the core costs of Loop covered for 2020 from the Humanity United grant. Additional income would help us to develop phase 2 onwards of Loop and cover some core costs for 2021.

The Elevate Prize and the network unleashed by this accolade could help to turbo charge the Loop initiative in all identified areas:

1) Funding. The Elevate Prize funding would be used immediately to develop more of the infrastructure but getting the prize and recognition would open up other conversations with other potential donors and pro-bono work which would reduce the funds required directly.

2) Pressure on funding: The proposed support to help with the tailored media and marketing campaign would be amazing and take my current search for some communications support to a new level. 

3) Data protection: Having my network enlarged through the 2 year program would help to bring in high calibre people for input on cutting edge data protection issues but also tech development opportunities that can help to address the digital divide and Loops role within this.

4) Telecoms: We are seeking an appropriate Advisory Board member and telecoms relationships in different countries for mutual benefit. 

5) Business model: the mentoring and network through this prize would undoubtedly have the right mix of people with experience to help build an evidenced business model for the future of Loop.

Winning this prize would be like winning the lottery for Loop at this stage. If Loop achieves our goals we would be an asset for SOLVE MIT as well to have launched a transformative solution, a role model of a new NGO structure and one of few services in the sector to truly achieve scale.

As per above we are specifically looking to unlock support and investment in the Loop initiative as well as build a strong communications and marketing tool.

On top of this the other areas identified above would help to launch Loop.

I would be open to recommendations and referrals and to see if our DNA and objectives match to create a strong long lasting partnership of mutual benefit.