USAID: Global Collaboration In Microenterprise Development -Stacey Young / Forum One Web Executive Seminar

Talk to Me: Global collaboration in microenterprise development Beyond the Hype: Government 2.0 for Decision Makers Forum One Web Executive Seminar National Press Club, Washington, DC, June 4, 2009 Stacey Young, PhD · Senior Knowledge Management Advisor · USAID Microenterprise Development

Web Executive Seminars Beyond the Hype: Gov 2.0 for Decision Makers June 4, 2009 National Press Club Washington, DC Learn more: www.forumone.com/hype

US Agency for International Development: USG’s primary foreign assistance agency

Not your father’s federal agency • Geographically dispersed (100+ countries) • Complexly tasked (many sectors, many situations) • Externally focused: – Objectives and results aim at country contexts – Large #s of foreign staff in field offices – Work is outsourced to thousands of partner org.s

Our development challenge Half the world (~ 3 billion people) lives on <$2/day USAID funding reaches a tiny fraction of them

How can web-based learning help? Increase our impact (direct & indirect) by spreading learning much more broadly than we can spread actual dollars:

Global leader in Microenterprise Development (MED) One USAID goal: help poor people in developing countries by reducing poverty and increasing economic growth One method: microenterprise development (MED) – access to financial services (credit, savings, remittances) for poor households and microenterprises – links to competitive markets – improved policy environment How to leverage what we and others know?

Two examples from microlinks.org • Face-to-face Seminars with virtual components • Online Speaker’s Corner conferences BOTH are aimed at getting people to talk to each other about: • innovations in the sector • how to adapt the innovations • how to apply them

The Knowledge Cycle KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE GENERATION CAPTURE KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION DISSEMINATION AND SHARING

Monthly face-to-face seminar series +++ • quality interaction with presenters • three dimensional experience • networking opportunities

Monthly face-to-face seminar series --- • limited #s can participate • attending from outside DC = $$$, carbon footprint • once it’s over, it’s over

A Washington DC event

is complemented by a real-time webinar • GoToWebinar (but there are other products) • easy: log on to URL, dial phone #, enter code • dashboard: – indicates who’s participating – enables person-to-person messaging – enables person-to-group posts for Q&A session • can record the event

Webinar •

And becomes a post-event permanent resource: screencast

Speaker’s Corner

Monthly online three-day conference • Asynchronous – time zone differences okay • Remote facilitation – moderators can be anywhere • Participants can read and post via their email “Before-during-after” activity: • Before: Links to resources are posted on the event page • During: Online discussion is lively • After: Discussion is archived, sometimes synthesized in a brief

Other resources available in advance

Participants share innovations

They share tools and resources

They find partnering opportunities

And they get a little help from their friends

But they now enjoy a much wider circle

Anyone can revisit the event anytime

Why do we consider these successful? • Demand/participation keeps growing • Anecdotal feedback is very positive • People are keen to present or moderate • Others replicate our model

We reach more people, with quality technical knowledge

Advantages of web-based learning… • increases the #s of people who benefit from the exchange of knowledge • brings the world’s diverse perspectives to the event • creates a permanent resource • saves $$$, reduces greenhouse emissions from travel

Results • Technical knowledge is shared with those who can apply it • Scale far exceeds F2F-only events • Engagement with other USAID microenterprise resources

Impacts? Hard to quantify or attribute, but qualitative evidence indicates: • People report changing the way they work • They interact with colleagues they otherwise wouldn’t encounter • The events can be an entry point to other resources • Our funded partners have become knowledge workers

Lessons learned Seminar/webinar • Time zones matter • It takes work to integrate webinar participants into the event • Breakout discussions can’t easily be webinar-ed Speaker’s Corner • Facilitation is key • Lurkers count • Post-event synthesis documents are useful (but $$) • Technology: things can go wrong; login requirements are a barrier • Government regulations can be a problem too

Thank you! visit us at www.microlinks.org

Web Executive Seminars LEARN MORE: www.forumone.com/wes

USAID: Global Collaboration In Microenterprise Development -Stacey Young / Forum One Web Executive Seminar

by Forum One Communications on Jun 11, 2009

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USAID: Global Collaboration In Microenterprise Development -Stacey Young / Forum One Web Executive Seminar — Webinar Transcript