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GEN

Government Empowerment Network

Transforming governments from within, empowering those with the vocation to change the world

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Why GEN

With over 100 million purpose-driven public servants worldwide, governments hold the potential to solve society’s most pressing structural issues

The shifting aid landscape accelerates the need to maximize this potential

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There are multiple barriers that limit the scope of action of public servants within governments

These deep-seated systematic challenges often leave them feeling frustrated, demotivated, and isolated. In our conversations with 100+ civil servants, many described feeling like ‘fish swimming against the current’

There are multiple barriers that limit the scope of action for public servants within governments.

Entrenched governance issues
Perverse insititutional incentives
Lack of accurate and timley data
Capacity gaps
Sioled operations
Resource constrains
Political interference or bureaucratic red tape
Lack accountability and transparency mechanism
Resistance to innovation and change

The combination of these barriers often leaves them feeling frustrated, demotivated, and isolated, like fish swimming against the current. Ultimately, this contributes to ineffective governments.

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How can public servants maximize their potential to deliver lasting impact?

What drives us

A global network of public sector champions

Radically multiplying local government-led transformations to better serve citizens and tackle today’s complex social and environmental challenges, supporting the welfare and well-being of billions of people

The GEN experience

Empowering Public Servants to

Drive Sustainable Transformation

GEN brings together and connects public servants equipping them with an AI-powered platform that aggregates and curates knowledge and fosters peer-to-peer collaboration, and with in-person cohorts designed to inspire, incubate, and materialize cost-effective solutions to structural challenges

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Build capabilities

Provide the hard and soft skills necessary to drive change, accessible at the click of a button

Inspire a shared vision

Inspire a new generation of change-makers, leaders and do-ers

Leverage network effects

Scale impact by creating a self-sustaining, global network of change ambassadors

Aggregate, curate and share knowledge

Be the go-to source of resources and content on government effectiveness, globally

Incubate solutions

Accompany champions in their journey by incubating challenges and solutions

Provide a safe space

Be seen as a safe space to share successes and failures, building a collegial culture

Empowerment lab
A continuous, AI-powered online platform that provides public servants with curated resources, self-paced masterclasses, peer exchanges, and expert networks. Critically, this is not a new training platform; rather, it is designed to aggregate the best-in-class, relevant resources and partners into a single, one-stop-shop for champions. This platform enables continuous learning before, during, and after the Incubator, and it will be key to driving down costs and enhancing scalability over time.
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Incubator
A six-month, in-person cohort journey for 30+ mid- to senior-level public servants from multiple ministries. The journey is designed to equip champions with the inspiration, technical expertise, soft skills, mentorship, and community needed to drive reform. In a unique, hands-on process, champions identify a deep structural issue that constrains service delivery, selecting problems based on their potential to unlock large-scale impact and a clear focus on ROI. This includes a careful assessment of whether the right political authorization and capabilities are available, ensuring champions are picking the most important and solvable issues. They then problem-solve and design solutions around it.
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Government Empowerment Network

What's next

2025→
In 2025, GEN launched its first cohort in Uganda, followed by cohorts in Colombia and Morocco. The program equipped public servants with tools and methods to diagnose systemic challenges and design cross-sector solutions.
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2035→
By 2035, GEN will have empowered 4,000+ public servants to lead systems transformation across governments. Through GEN's approach, 500+ major reforms will have catalyzed 500 million people receiving more effective, coordinated public services.
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2025→
In 2025, GEN launched its first cohort in Uganda, followed by cohorts in Colombia and Morocco. The program equipped public servants with tools and methods to diagnose systemic challenges and design cross-sector solutions.
IMG_1872 (1)
2035→
By 2035, GEN will have empowered 4,000+ public servants to lead systems transformation across governments. Through GEN's approach, 500+ major reforms will have catalyzed 500 million people receiving more effective, coordinated public services.
IMG_9969 (2)

Who is GEN for

Governments and Civil Servants

Purpose-driven public servants who know the transformative potential within their institutions but often face isolation in reform efforts. GEN provides you with a global community of peers and an empowerment lab that aggregates the wisdom of reformers and experts worldwide and provides structured support to turn your ideas into action. Shape GEN by sharing challenges, successes, and expertise and joining our upcoming cohorts of champions.

NGOs and TA Providers

Forward-thinking organizations who recognize the value of making their expertise available and sustainable beyond the individual projects they implement. GEN offers a collaborative platform where you can codify your knowledge, embed expertise within government systems, and connect with motivated public servants eager to implement proven solutions. Partner with GEN to scale your impact and ensure your valuable insights drive lasting change.

Philanthropy and Funders

Strategic funders who seek sustainable models that create lasting institutional change within government systems. GEN provides you with a cost-effective mechanism for identifying reform champions, sourcing local transformational projects, and ensuring your investments yield long-term results that scale across institutions. Join GEN in scaling government-led solutions that address structural challenges and deliver sustained impact.

Broader Development Community

Development practitioners who see the need for more efficient knowledge transfer and local empowerment in a changing global landscape. GEN provides you with a structured platform to contribute expertise, connect directly with like-minded practitioners and civil servants, and participate in locally led solutions to structural challenges. Join our community to bridge the gap between development and government action.

Governments and Civil Servants

Purpose-driven public servants who know the transformative potential within their institutions but often face isolation in reform efforts. GEN provides you with a global community of peers and an empowerment lab that aggregates the wisdom of reformers and experts worldwide and provides structured support to turn your ideas into action. Shape GEN by sharing challenges, successes, and expertise and joining our upcoming cohorts of champions.

NGOs and TA Providers

Forward-thinking organizations that recognize the value of making their expertise available and sustainable beyond the individual projects they implement. GEN offers a collaborative platform where you can codify your knowledge, embed expertise within government systems, and connect with motivated public servants eager to implement proven solutions. Partner with GEN to scale your impact and ensure your valuable insights drive lasting change.

Philanthropy and Funders

Strategic funders who seek sustainable models that create lasting institutional change within government systems. GEN provides you with a cost-effective mechanism for identifying reform champions, sourcing local transformational projects, and ensuring your investments yield long-term results that scale across institutions. Join GEN in scaling government-led solutions that address structural challenges and deliver sustained impact.

Broader Development Community

Development practitioners who see the need for more efficient knowledge transfer and local empowerment in a changing global landscape. GEN provides you with a structured platform to contribute expertise, connect directly with like-minded practitioners and civil servants, and participate in locally led solutions to structural challenges. Join our community to bridge the gap between development and government action.

Who is GEN for?

1st audience

Governments and Civil Servants

Purpose-driven public servants who know the transformative potential within their institutions but often face isolation in reform efforts. GEN provides you with a global community of peers and an empowerment lab that aggregates the wisdom of reformers and experts worldwide and provides structured support to turn your ideas into action. Shape GEN by sharing challenges, successes, and expertise and joining our upcoming cohorts of champions.

NGOs and TA Providers

Forward-thinking organizations who recognize the value of making their expertise available and sustainable beyond individual projects. GEN offers a collaborative platform where you can codify your knowledge, embed expertise within government systems, and connect with motivated public servants eager to implement proven solutions. Partner with GEN to amplify your impact and ensure your valuable insights drive lasting change.

Philanthropy and Funders

Philanthropy and Funders

Strategic funders who seek sustainable models that create lasting institutional change within government systems. GEN provides you with a cost-effective mechanism for identifying reform champions, sourcing local transformational projects, and ensuring your investments yield long-term results that scale across institutions. Join GEN in scaling government-led solutions that address structural challenges and deliver sustained impact.

Broader Development Community

Broader Development Community

Development practitioners who see the need for more efficient knowledge transfer and local empowerment in a changing global landscape. GEN provides you with a structured platform to contribute expertise, connect directly with like-minded practitioners and civil servants, and participate in locally led solutions to structural challenges. Join our community to bridge the gap between development and government action.

Our partners

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Aura Cifuentes

Colombia

My journey in government began with a belief: that public service, when done right, can be one of the most powerful tools for transformation. As Digital Government Director in Colombia, I witnessed first-hand how technology—when paired with empathy, collaboration, and a deep understanding of citizen needs—can reshape the relationship between people and the state.

In government, time is always ticking. With short terms and shifting priorities, I learned that getting things done isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. From launching digital public services to building coalitions for GovTech and public innovation, I focused on being agile, delivering value, and creating the conditions for change that outlast any single administration.

Transformation isn’t about flashy tech. It’s about trust, persistence, and empowering good people inside government to act with purpose and speed. Today, I carry those lessons into every room I walk into—because I’ve seen what’s possible when we bet on public sector effectiveness.

Nelson Balyeku

Uganda

My journey into public service began in the rural districts of western Uganda, where I supported internal resettlement projects with GIZ. Since then, I’ve worked across humanitarian and development organizations, always drawn to the challenge—and promise—of building systems that serve people better.

Today, I lead Monitoring and Evaluation at Uganda’s National Office for Refugee Management under the Office of the Prime Minister. In this role, I’ve had the privilege of shaping how Uganda’s refugee response is planned, tracked, and improved. From coordinating with over 250 refugee organizations, to leading major infrastructure projects funded by partners like KfW, co-developing Theory of Change, my work has focused on aligning data, strategy, and people to create real impact in some of the country’s most complex contexts.

What I’ve learned is that success in government, it’s about coordination, clarity, and commitment. Especially in the refugee sector, where the needs are urgent and the stakeholders many, it takes more than policy to deliver results. It takes trust, collaboration, and systems that outlast any one actor.

Juliana Sánchez Calderón

Colombia

Juliana ha pasado más de dos décadas trabajando en la reducción de la pobreza y en políticas sociales en Colombia, a través del Departamento Nacional de Planeación, el Banco Mundial, el PNUD y el BID. Formó parte del equipo que ayudó a lanzar uno de los primeros instrumentos de pago por resultados en Colombia. Hoy lidera la dirección técnica de la Secretaría de Integración Social de Bogotá.

El problema que llevó a GEN era uno en el que había estado trabajando durante años: el sistema de primera infancia en Colombia, a pesar de contar con políticas sólidas y financiación, todavía no logra llegar a muchos niños menores de cinco años porque los servicios no se adaptan a la forma en que las familias realmente viven. Los horarios y las modalidades no están alineados. Los ajustes que ayudarían no se realizan debido a restricciones regulatorias. Los datos existen, pero no se traducen en decisiones.

Junto con colegas de Integración Social, Buen Comienzo en Medellín, el ICBF y el Ministerio de Igualdad, su equipo diseñó una solución en cuatro partes: un espacio de coordinación interinstitucional en funcionamiento; un mecanismo para identificar rigideces en la prestación de servicios y pilotear ajustes; un ciclo simple de mejora continua; y un marco mínimo de interoperabilidad de datos para que la información de diferentes sistemas pueda utilizarse de manera conjunta.

“Desde dentro del gobierno, se ve una red de problemas interconectados”, afirma. “Lo que esperaba de GEN era desenredar eso y clarificar el problema central.”

Sebastián Londoño Espinosa

Ecuador

Sebastián came to public finance through research, studying macrofiscal frameworks and fiscal rules. His career has moved across gremios, academia, the UNDP, and the private sector, and today he leads fiscal policy at Ecuador’s Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The problem his team brought to GEN sits at the core of how the Ministry operates: budget, accounting, and debt management systems work in silos, with no integrated view across the fiscal cycle. Authorities making decisions on spending and cash flow cannot see the full picture because the data lives in separate systems that do not connect. “The systems are crossed,” he said. “We do not have immediate solutions, and what we are looking for is a real change.”

The solution his team designed combines two things: in the short term, integrated control dashboards that pull together data from existing financial systems for real-time monitoring of budget execution, cash flow, debt, and accounting. In the longer term, a full redesign and institutionalization of financial management processes across the Ministry, with clear roles, responsibilities, and indicators.

“What we want is a change that does not depend on who is in charge,” he said. “Any authority should be able to make better decisions with information that is current, immediate, and coordinated. The final beneficiary is always the citizen.”
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