Accountability Lab
Washington

2020 - 2021 Steering Committee

2022-2023 Steering Committee

Active Badges

Steering Committee: The Accountability Lab is a member of the 2020 - 2021 TAP Steering Committee. Read more about TAP's Steering Committee at https://tapnetwork2030.org/tapnetworksteeringcommittee/.

2022 - 2023 Steering Committee: Accountability Lab is a member of the 2022-2023 TAP Steering Committee. Read more about TAP's Steering Committee at https://tapnetwork2030.org/tapnetworksteeringcommittee/.

  • Contact
  • Work & Expertise
  • Current Commitment
  • Past Commitment
  • Resource

Basic Information

Organization Name:
Accountability Lab
Organization Regions:
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Africa
  • Asia/Pacific
  • Global
  • Organization Country Location:
    United States
  • Organization City/Locality:
    Washington
Operating Languages:
  • English
  • Spanish
  • French
Organization mission and work description:

The Accountability Lab ins a global translocal network that makes governance work for people everywhere by supporting active citizens, responsible leaders and accountable institutions. We are reimagining how to build accountability to support a world in which resources are used wisely, decisions benefit everyone fairly, and people lead secure lives.

Organization's Contacts

  • Primary Contact Name:
    Jean Scrimgeour
  • Primary Contact Title:
    Director, Strategy and Growth
Additional Contacts Names:
  • Additional representative #1:
    Blair Glencorse
  • Additional representative #2:
  • Additional representative #3:
  • Additional representative #4:

OUR INTERNATIONAL COALITION IS MADE UP OF MORE THAN 400 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS

Learn about TAP Members & Partners

WHO ARE TAP'S MEMBERS?

Organization's Work & Expertise

Organization's SGD16 Expertise:
  • 16.3 - Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all
  • 16.5 - Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms
  • 16.6 - Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels
  • 16.7 - Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
  • 16.8 - Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance
Organization's Areas of Expertise:
  • Accountability for the 2030 Agenda
  • Policy Analysis & Advocacy
  • Gender Equality
  • Capacity building/CSO training & education

Current Commitment to SDG16+

Summary of commitment:

Equipping Reformers for Collective Action- inside and outside government- with the knowledge and tools they need to push for better governance through training and learning.

Organization's priorities and work in relation to commitment:

We are working to support new ideas at strategic points within accountability systems, working with them to grow and influence other parts of the system. While we work globally, we place an emphasis in particular on South-South learning, where we feel significant learning across countries can be drawn out and built-upon even further. Training- that takes a variety of forms, depending on the context, including incubators (longer and shorter-term support programs for accountapreneurs), innovation challenges (competitions to source new ideas from the bottom up around issues such as SDG16), integrity schools and workshops (focusing on peer-learning and innovation), and bootcamps with civil society, businesses, students, the media and reformers within government (such as our Integrity Icons and incoming civil servants). These efforts will be evidence-based- through programs like the Civic Action Teams we will collect data that can inform decision- makers as they come through our programs. The Lab has now developed and codified a significant basis of knowledge around how to build accountability and will work to roll this out in new ways across the contexts in which we work in partnership with leading organizations within government (such as civil service training schools) and civil society (such as Ashoka). In the 2020-2023 period, we also anticipate working further with the private sector in terms of skills-building and peer- learning around accountability issues. A core part of our efforts to support responsible leaders to date has been through Integrity Icon. The campaign is a way to shift norms more broadly- in the 2020-2023 period we want to find ways to support the Icons and their teams more specifically to build coalitions, share ideas and support each other to push for integrity within government. We will build on the following activities we began in the 2017-2020 period: Integrity Summits- we will continue to bring together the Integrity Icons at the national and regional levels in the countries in which we work to brainstorm on new approaches, develop solutions to challenges and support each other. Just as corrupt networks protect each other, we hope to build networks of integrity that can provide the collective determination and energy to push back against a lack of accountability. In 2020 we also hope to host our first international Integrity Summit, bringing together Icons from across the countries in which we work. “Meet the Icons” Events- through which we host the Icons for discussions with citizens at the local and national levels, to prompt conversation about what integrity means and why it is important. These events are often hosted at schools and universities, with an emphasis on conveying to young people the idea that you can be a person of integrity and serve within government. In the 2020-2023 period we also want to build out an Integrity Fellowship- piloted in Nepal- through which students can serve as fellows with the Idols, shadowing their work over time, to learn how best to lead with integrity within government. To do this, we will work more closely with the teams of the Icons, hosting mini- retreats whenever we can- to build buy-into the process of change, demonstrate the rewards of integrity and support shared accountability goals. Integrity Trainings- the Icons are seen within their countries as role-models for the next generation. We will continue to build-out our integrity trainings, through which the Icons serve as mentors for younger, incoming civil servants who are beginning their careers in government. The trainings support integrity as a core value within the civil service, and the Icons play a role in sharing ideas, highlighting best practices and encouraging values-based decision-making. Integrity Fellowship- we have seen that the Icons play an important role in inspiring the younger generation to join government. To support this process, we have created a program through which students can serve as fellows with the Icons and learn how to build integrity within government. This began in Nepal and in the 2020-2023 period we hope to expand it across countries, building on the clear impact to date. Collaborative Spaces- building out our co- working and innovation communities as part of the OpenGov Hub network, with a particular focus on using them as places to develop new thinking, shift norms (making accountability the default expectation) and nodes for new relationships among change-makers. The Hubs will also be vehicles to share knowledge and ideas; provide tools for creative accountability outputs that can influence norms, including audio and film production facilities; and continue to be places where we encourage experimentation and learning.

Organization's work related to TAP network's SGD16+ work & accountability for 2030 Agenda:

see notes below and above

Plan on engaging in TAP's work as a Partner:
  • Regional Engagement Platforms and/or Regional Focal Point
  • Thematic Working Groups
  • Voluntary funding contributions to the TAP Network
  • Interest in leadership/coordination opportunities within the TAP Network
  • Exploring partnerships with like-minded organizations
  • Global engagement via the UN and other opportunities
  • TAP Network joint global advocacy
  • Exploring opportunities for hosting TAP Network national or regional-level capacity building activities

A COLLABORATIVE CAMPAIGN TO BRING THE WORK OF CIVIL SOCIETY ON SDG16+ TO THE 2019 HLPF.

Voices of SDG 16+: Stories of Global Action

Reports on Organization's Past Commitments

Integrity Icon is a campaign to find, celebrate and support honest government officials. It moves away from tired approaches to “name and shame” wrong-doers; and shifts norms through carefully crafted, collaborative national movements to “name and fame” honest public officials. Think American Icon but for governance and anti-corruption! Citizens nominate honest government officials; we select and film the top 5 and people vote in their millions for their favorites, who we celebrate at large national, red-carpet ceremonies in front of VIPs, the media and citizens. Then we work with the winners to help them get promoted, build coalitions for change, develop the skills they need to improve government and amplify their voices. Integrity Icon has led to some impressive results- for example, the trust and credibility the campaign has given previous winners has seen them promoted to ministerial positions; and push through national reforms to fight corruption. Others have been asked to advise on national level policy changes; and been invited to brief Congress in the US on how to engage in governance issues. Equally as importantly, Integrity Icon shifts understandings of who role-models should be and holds up the kind of behaviors we should all aspire to.