Even when NGOs and governments consult experts who represent an identity within the community, they often rely on the same familiar, trusted individuals who, while experienced, may offer only a single perspective.

Relying on a narrow range of voices risks creating strategies that fail to capture the full complexity of the community’s needs, potentially addressing some issues while overlooking others.

Without incorporating fresh and trustworthy perspectives from both local and global experts, these approaches can miss cultural nuances, lead to avoidable errors, and result in unnecessarily complex solutions that waste time and resources—or worse, damage relationships with the very communities they aim to support.

While academic research offers valuable wisdom, accessing it presents significant challenges. Its insights are often buried in dense, complex texts that are difficult to navigate.

And then, when identified, this research frequently reflects European and American perspectives, overshadowing the representative and valuable voices from the Global Majority. As those with the opportunity to publish in top peer-reviewed journals often reinforce the dominant narrative. Although valuable, these insights reflect the researchers’ biases, potentially leading to ideas that don’t fully align with the community’s needs, values and culture.

This shows that relying solely on academic ideas from peer-reviewed papers isn’t enough. While we need the reliable evidence and depth of insight that academic research provides, it’s essential that this evidence also represents diverse perspectives and ideas grounded in the community’s culture.

Without drawing on a range of representative and diverse insights, the strategies we develop may fail to deliver culturally aligned, effective, and relevant initiatives that truly serve the community’s needs —depriving changemakers of the opportunity to achieve something truly transformative.