EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As a sector, international humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding is undergoing a period of profound disruption. Funding contractions, geopolitical change, and growing calls for localization and shifting power have exposed the limitations of traditional models.

In February 2026, Local Capacities for Peace International (LCPI), a Kenyan international nongovernmental organization (INGO), and CDA Collaborative Learning, a U.S.-based research INGO, established a strategic affiliation that challenges conventional assumptions about international partnership. Rather than pursuing a traditional merger, acquisition, or donor-recipient relationship, the organizations co-designed an integrated model built on shared governance, Global Majority leadership, Global Minority solidarity, and mutual accountability. The affiliation preserves the identities of both organizations while creating a unified framework for collaboration, learning, and resource mobilization.

This was not simply an organizational survival strategy. It took place in the context of sector-wide uncertainty that also impacted the organizations, yet the motivation was to align organizational structure with long-held commitments to localization, equity, and responsible international cooperation.

he partnership asks a different question: What if the way organizations are structured became part of the shifting power agenda itself? While not a new question, not many have answered.

Several features distinguish this model. Administrative services are led by the Global Majority partner rather than the Northern institution, as has been the norm. Governance structures distribute authority across both organizations while protecting local leadership. Intellectual property, branding, and knowledge assets are formally shared rather than controlled by one institution. Together, these choices embed equity not only in organizational values but also in legal agreements, operational systems, and decision-making processes.

This case study argues that structural change requires more than commitments to partnership or localization. Power must be intentionally designed into governance, finance, operations, and institutional relationships. In this sense, the LCPI-CDA affiliation offers a practical proof of concept for translating the aspirations of the shifting power movement into organizational practice.

The study also demonstrates that successful integration depends on more than legal design. Twenty years of collaboration created the trust necessary to navigate difficult conversations about power, identity, risk, and the future. Through interviews, reflection workshops, and documentation of the integration process, ten early lessons emerge, including:
– treating disruption as a window for organizational innovation;
– viewing long-term relationships as strategic capital;
– beginning with values before structures;
– institutionalizing power-sharing through governance; and
– embracing integration as an ongoing journey rather than a finished model.

The authors do not present this affiliation as a blueprint or best practice. Instead, they offer it as an evolving experiment—one that invites adaptation, critique, and continued learning. This Part 1 will be followed by learning from LCPI and CDA’s first full year of joint operations. As international cooperation continues to transform, the experience of LCPI and CDA suggests that organizations need not choose between preserving mission and pursuing equity. By redesigning organizational relationships around shared leadership and letting go of Global Minority power, they can achieve both.

NOTE: Why “Global Majority” and “Global Minority”? Throughout this case study, we use the terms Global Majority and Global Minority rather than Global South and Global North. Adapted from Oxfam’s Inclusive Language Guide, these terms emphasize histories of power, representation, and equity over geography, while acknowledging the complexity and diversity of global contexts.

About the authors