For building on what we know, together
We’re far off track with the SDGs with only 5 years to go and are currently seeing a demise in humanitarian and development funding and principles across the political spectrum. Development and humanitarian knowledge is a public good that we will need more than ever to tackle the immense global challenge that we are up against.
Right now, across the humanitarian and development space, a lot of people are asking hard questions: About what the system is for. About who it really serves. About why we keep losing the knowledge we gain, project after project, crisis after crisis.
These aren’t new questions. But they’re becoming harder to ignore.
Conversations about a “reset” have opened the door again. But many of us working inside this system know the real work isn’t about rebranding old structures. It’s about addressing the deeper issues that have shaped this sector for decades. Issues of power, access, and the quiet disappearance of learning that could have made a difference.
That’s the space where Propel is working.
We’re not trying to fix everything. But we are trying to shift something fundamental:
How humanitarian and development knowledge is treated. How it flows. And who gets to use it.
Too often, learning in our sector is locked away in reports, forgotten when teams change, or siloed between departments and organisations. It’s captured too late, shared inconsistently, and rarely used to shape decisions in real time.
At the same time, organisations are being asked to do more with less, to adapt quickly, report transparently, and show impact under growing pressure. Without access to what’s already been learned, that becomes nearly impossible.
We built Propel to help organisations hold on to what they’ve learned, and to actually use it.
It’s a collective intelligence platform, but more than that. It’s a way of working. One that supports teams in capturing knowledge as they go, seeing patterns across projects, and sharing insights across boundaries. So that a lesson learned in one place can be picked up and applied elsewhere, before it’s too late.
We’re developing this with and for the people doing the work - field teams, technical advisors, M&E staff, programme leads. And we’re making sure it can fit into existing systems, not add another layer of complexity.
This isn’t about innovation for its own sake. It’s about building the infrastructure that this sector has been talking about but not managed to realise yet.
We don’t think Propel is the only answer. But we do think it’s one part of the puzzle toward a more connected, more reflective, and more effective development impact and humanitarian assistance. And we believe that kind of change will only happen if enough people work on it together. We need to turn this moment of despair into a moment of opportunity to actively shape where we can go and how the future of this sector can look like, together.
Let’s not wait for the system to reset itself. Let’s start building what we actually need. This is an invitation to join us. We aim to bring together a group of forward-thinking organisations, foundations and donors who want to actively shore this needed piece of infrastructure together.
Reach out at: info@propelapp.org / sarah@propelapp.org / helen@propelapp.org