Power Shift: Locally-Led Solutions 4 Global Change

Sawa. Okay. It’s time to share a story of our own Power Shift. 

This month, something new was born—something alive to the vision of shifting power.  

Nine months ago, CDA and Local Capacities for Peace International started having a different kind of conversation about the future.

Our story started decades ago, with deep collaboration in our foundational years. Then our organizations walked their own paths. In that era, friendships were built through practitioner consultations hosted by CDA, including between LCPI leaders and future CDA leadership. In recent years, our organizations started seeking deeper ways to partner again, growing trust and familiarity as sister organizations.

As close sisters do in moments of shock, we sought connection in the early months of 2025. Like everyone, we had seen change coming. Like everyone, we could not have anticipated the ripple effects from historic aid cuts. 

So, when conversations between LCPI and CDA turned in June from “How are you holding up?” to “What’s possible?”, something new was conceived. “There are always options” remains the most powerful and enduring lesson of the research underlying Do No Harm, the widely adopted principle and practice pioneered by CDA 25 years ago.

What was in our capacity was clear. The months of gestation that followed were a labor of love.

• Designing an organizational model that didn’t exist.
• Seeking – and finding! – investment in our vision.
• Sorting the details with our boards and lawyers.
• Listening to our network’s wisdom, as well as heart-felt skepticism.
• All while continuing programs and pursuing joint initiatives to give us a running start.

In February, our boards approved the LCPI-CDA Strategic Affiliation Agreement. And on 10 March, we had an intimate signing ceremony in Nairobi with members of our boards and teams (photos).

In a year characterized by destruction and conquest, this act of creation that shifts power feels abundant and joyful.

• It is not merger. We retain our identities and leverage CDA’s global breadth (from Peru to the Philippines) and LCPI’s East Africa depth.
• It is not acquisition. Our IP and financial resources become shared. So too our mutual stories and accountability.
• It is not sunsetting. It’s a new day.

As we grow in this new form, we'll keep “learning out loud” with and for others seeking transformation. 

With deep gratitude to our boards, colleagues, close partners who share this vision, with courage, generosity, and care. Tunakwenda. On we go!

Additional photos from LCPI-CDA team retreat in Nairobi. Plus community work near Sondu, Kenya, where tribal and political boundaries clash, but locally-led peacebuilding is transforming relationships and the region's future.  

Links:

• Public Announcement: LCPI-CDA Strategic Affiliation - Feb 2026
• LinkedIn post with more to the LCPI-CDA story
• Learn more about Local Capacities for Peace International

Hope sure has been hard to find in the headlines since our last report.

And yet – with your support – CDA is finding hope wherever we collaborate.

From where we stand, the headline should read: Local leaders are boldly forging solutions for global change. 

The solidarity shown through this campaign is fueling CDA in

• walking with Local Capacities for Peace International in Kenya on the journey of local women's leadership,
• learning with Ukrainian professionals envisioning their roles in a more peaceful future,
• listening deeply to urgent voices telling hard truths of Sudan and the refugee crisis, 
• acting in solidarity with Indigenous leaders driving change in Brazil at the UN's global climate conference. 

Thank you for investing in sustained partnership with local leaders! 

(And, watch this space! We can't wait to share more as we transform this campaign in the coming days.)

Links:

• Learn about Local Capacities for Peace Intl, CDA sister org
• Sudanese poet paints complex picture of aid from refugee camp
• CDA & Ecosystems of Peace colleagues engage in COP30