Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Impact

ABOUT THE ACCELERATOR

The global humanitarian aid and development industry has a problem: innovation is everywhere, but examples of successfully scaled solutions are far less common. Even when we achieve impact at scale, the process can take decades. CARE’s Scale X Design Accelerator will bridge the gap between innovation and impact. We envision a future where we design for scale from the outset. Where pilot models are tested for scale and sustainability along with impact and proof of concept. Where development practitioners are armed with the science and skills needed for scaling. Where we distill our most promising solutions from the noise and give them the practical means to succeed.

HOW IT WORKS

Teams with innovative, proven and scalable ideas are selected to participate in a year-long program that builds core skills for scaling innovations while delivering tailored attention and support to tackle their biggest barriers to scale. CARE’s Scale X Design Accelerator draws inspiration from private sector approaches to rapidly design, test, iterate and scale bold new ideas. The SXD Accelerator is a first-of-its-kind platform that arms development practitioners with the skills, mentorship, and resources they need to go from idea to impact.

After grounding their work through core learning labs, teams participate in CARE’s Scale X Design Challenge, where they pitch their ideas—and their vision for scale—to a panel of expert judges. Teams continue their journey with elective labs, mentorship and continued support from CARE and partners.

THE IMPACT

CARE works with individuals, communities and partners in 90 countries around the world to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. Our community-based approaches and our focus on women and girls distinguish us in our work, but imagine the impact if we could accelerate the scaling of promising ideas. By formalizing a process of delivering innovations at scale, CARE’s Scale X Design Accelerator has the potential to usher in a new, exciting and collaborative way of catalyzing change in the development sector.

Partner with us to change how we do development – We are leveraging the knowledge and expertise of diverse partners to bring new skills and mindsets to development practitioners through curriculum, mentorship and strategic corporate engagement.

Partner with us to scale – Help us shorten the time it takes to go from promising practice to scale by investing in our innovations.