Twenty years ago, Peggy Dulany founded The Synergos Institute on the premise that tackling the complex problems of poverty and inequity required collaboration across divides. Over the years, Synergos has strengthened the capacity of civil society organizations and leaders and brought them together with the private sector and government to reduce poverty and increase equity.

Peggy Dulany in Mozambique

As Synergos enters its third decade, half the world's population remains chronically poor and despite unparalleled economic advancements the gap between the rich and the poor is getting larger. Drawing on the success and learnings of twenty years, Synergos will focus its future work on bringing people together to address the underlying causes of poverty and inequity in innovative ways that lead to meaningful, long-term change.

Cross-sectoral partnerships have become a widely accepted way to tackle the complex problems of poverty, and particularly for finding and implementing solutions which can be brought to scale. At the same time there has been widespread recognition that if partnerships are not properly constructed and managed, they will not be successful.

Synergos is uniquely positioned to create effective partnerships which rely on its longstanding relationships not only with business, government, social investors and development organizations, but also with leaders and institutions representing poor and marginalized communities. In addition to these relationships of trust, we have identified ways to design collaborations that lead to systems change and build local capacity to make these changes sustainable.

The Campaign for the Future will provide a pool of venture funds to:

Children who benefit from the Partnership for Child Nutrition in India

• Increase the board-restricted funds at Synergos to build the permanent capital of the organization assuring its sustainability
• Launch and support at least three new partnerships that address critical issues of poverty as well as current projects linked to malnutrition in India, health care reform in Southern Africa and Aboriginal youth development in Canada
• Expand our current network of social innovators by adding 25 new Senior Fellows from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia and finance collaborative projects by members of the Fellows Network addressing regional and topical issues of importance
• Establish a Global Knowledge Center, creating and connecting the knowledge and experience of leaders and leading institutions working on collaborative approaches to the problems of global poverty
• Expand Synergos' work in Southern Africa and Brazil, where we convene, build the capacity of and support collaborative action by leaders and leading organizations attacking poverty, inequity and social justice
• Provide Synergos with critical resources to build organizational capacity to develop and share systems for knowledge management and to perform project evaluation.

To Contribute Or Learn More

For additional information on contributing to the Campaign for the Future, contact Anna Ginn at aginn@synergos.org or +1-646-963-2103. You can give online or contribute via mail or fax.

For an overview on lessons learned from Synergos' two decades of work and some thoughts on our future, see the report Synergos at Twenty: A Reflection on Partnering to End Poverty.