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5 leaders exposing corruption and bringing hope to Africa

By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director, Accountability Lab, and Lawrence Yealue, Country Director, Accountability Lab Liberia. This article was originally posted by the World Economic Forum as part of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017. Film stars, musicians and sports stars from across Africa are global celebrities. South African actresses like Terry Pheto win international awards; Nigerian rapper Whizkid sells out concerts across the UK; and Didier Drogba, Cote d’Ivoire’s all-time top goal scorer, is now looking to build a soccer empire in the US. When it comes to governance across the continent, however, the headlines can be less encouraging. In the last few [...]

2017-05-04T00:00:00+00:004th May 2017|

Illicit financial flows from Africa: ‘Progress is small, small’

By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director of the Accountability Lab and the IBA’s Innovation Fellow 2017. This article was originally published by the International Bar Association. The huge illicit financial flows from Liberia that are undermining its development reflect the wider problems that persist across Africa. Illegal transactions are, in some ways, easier than ever, but there are promising developments at corporate, government and international levels. 'Pay your taxes to develop Mama Liberia,’ says a Ministry of Finance billboard on one of Monrovia’s main thoroughfares, referring colloquially to the West African country. As we drove past recently – dodging potholes on the [...]

2021-03-16T18:21:25+00:0017th April 2017|

Five Social Purpose Leaders Announced as Finalists for the 2017 Alumni Award

This article was originally published by LeaderStories. During this year’s American Express Leadership Academy Global Alumni Summit, Atlas Corps and American Express will honor one alumni with the 2017 American Express Leadership Academy Alumni Award. This award was created to recognize an Academy Alumni who has continuously demonstrated strong leadership and who has had a significant impact on their organization and the sector. The award will be announced at the Alumni Summit in April 2017, and will include a $25,000 grant to their organization. Meet the five finalists – each an effective and innovative leader in his or her own [...]

2017-03-28T00:00:00+00:0028th March 2017|

Accountability Lab Wins the SXSW Community Service Award!

We were honored to be a winner of the SXSW Community Service Award last week in Austin, Texas. Executive Director Blair Glencorse received the award from Hugh Forrest, Director of the SXSW festival in front of several hundred social entrepreneurs, artists, film-makers, journalists and other members of the SXSW Community. At the event, Blair dedicated the award to the Accountability Lab's teams around the world and the incredible people within our community who we support to build accountability in their communities: "This work is more important now than it has ever been" he said: "It fills me with great pride [...]

2017-03-17T00:00:00+00:0017th March 2017|

Celebrating The Lab’s 5th Birthday With A New Strategy for Building Accountability

By: Blair Glencorse, Executive Director. Today, the Accountability Lab turns 5 years old. What better way to celebrate a birthday than to reflect on what we’ve done, think about what we’ve learned, and spell out where we’re going in a new strategy?! We’re proud of this new roadmap, which has grown out of a lot of hard work in West Africa and South Asia, hundreds of conversations with other organizations and individuals working in this space and significant field and desk research into accountability eco-systems to understand where we can add the most value. This refresh comes at an important [...]

2017-03-16T00:00:00+00:0016th March 2017|

You Name, We Fame: Citizen Feedback in Action

By: Blair Glencorse, Founder and Executive Director of Accountability Lab. This blog post was originally published by Feedback Labs. We recently completed our global Integrity Idol campaign – an annual TV show and citizen movement to find, film and celebrate honest government officials. It shifts the negative conversation around corruption from “naming and shaming” the wrong-doers, to a positive “naming and faming” public servants that are building accountability. Previous winners have included an incredible education official from eastern Nepal; a nurse from central Liberia and an army chief from northern Mali. Now we are building a network of these officials [...]

2017-01-28T00:00:00+00:0028th January 2017|

Founder Blair Glencorse Receives the SXSW Community Service Award

By: PR Newswire. This article was originally published by Yahoo Finance. South by Southwest® (SXSW®) announced the recipients of the SXSW Community Service Award honorees for 2017. The SXSW Community Service Awards celebrate the spirit of community that is unique to SXSW. Each spring, ten recipients are recognized for their use of digital technology to help others. Each honoree receives a complimentary badge to SXSW, a $1,000 grant to their favorite 501(c)(3) and a chance to spread the word about their work to the SXSW community. The SXSW Community Service Awards will take place on the evening of Monday, March 13 during [...]

2016-12-16T00:00:00+00:0016th December 2016|

Accountability Lab: Promoting Good Government, Fighting Corruption

By: Marc Gunther. This article was originally published on Nonprofits Chronicles.  In the US, Integrity Idol might not qualify as must-see TV. The TV-and-radio show showcases five government officials, nominated by their fellow citizens, who are known for their honesty. People vote for their favorite civil servant via text messages or online, and the winner is crowned in a ceremony in the national capital. In Nepal, though, Integrity Idol is a hit. Last year, reached an estimated 3 million viewers (10 percent of the population), generated 10,000 votes and celebrated the work of a education reformer named Gyan Mani Nepal, who cleaned house [...]

2016-12-15T00:00:00+00:0015th December 2016|

5 lessons on fighting corruption

By: Blair Glencorse. This article was originally published by the World Economic Forum. Image: REUTERS/Marco Bello Corruption is a barrier to economic and social growth in much of Latin America. In many countries, robust legal frameworks for transparency, including far-reaching laws, criminal, administrative and audit regimes, and mechanisms for prevention, investigation and sanction already exist. But implementation and enforcement of laws can be weak and impunity for certain acts continues. Many countries in the region linger towards the bottom of indices that measure the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Rule of Law Index. With this in mind, the recent Partnering Against [...]

2016-12-06T00:00:00+00:006th December 2016|

Opening governance with a new generation in Liberia

By: Blair Glencorse and Heather Gilberds. This blog post was originally published by Making All Voices Count. This week, as the Open Government Partnership holds its 2016 summit in Paris, there will be many reflections on how to improve the ways that governments interact with citizens, and how to ensure that citizen voices and priorities are incorporated in policy-making. Under President Sirleaf, the Government of Liberia has worked to open up government and put in place organisations and mechanisms to support accountability. As part of the work funded by our Making All Voices Count research and learning grant, the Accountability [...]

2016-12-05T00:00:00+00:005th December 2016|
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