Impact Hub Case Studies: Cross-Sector Institutions Solving Public Problems

In an effort to support policymakers and civic entrepreneurs around the world, New America and the Chandler Institute of Governance in Singapore are conducting research to better understand the features of cross-sector institutions that can solve public problems.

One model is an Impact Hub, a type of institution that brings together diverse partners to address a specific, clearly defined policy challenge. Impact Hubs pool the expertise, resources, and networks of partners from the public, private, and civic sectors. They implement concrete solutions and use metrics to track outcomes. The Impact Hub Field Guide describes their features in detail and the steps for shaping one.

Several hubs are already operating at the global, national, and local levels all over the world. A new collection of case studies examines three of these hubs in depth: APOPO, Singapore’s Alliances for Action, and the Guinea Worm Eradication Program.

In order to reduce civilian harm from the millions of landmines in post-conflict zones all over the world, APOPO, a Belgian-based nonprofit, implemented a novel, cost-effective method: trained scent-detection rats. To find both landmines and cases of tuberculosis, the organization used an innovative operational model based on local partnerships, technological innovation, and community engagement to deploy rats at scale and save thousands of lives.

In order to develop and implement solutions to a range of local challenges, the Singaporean government partnered with companies, civil society organizations, and citizens to create Alliances for Action (AfA). These time-bound, results-based initiatives built civic ties and made measurable progress on issues ranging from environmental protection to online harms.

The Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) brought together partners ranging from presidents to village elders to prevent the spread of the Guinea Worm disease, a painful, debilitating ailment that affects people in some of the world’s most isolated and lowest-income areas. In 1986, when the Carter Center, a U.S. nonprofit organization, started its initiative to address the disease, 3.5 million people suffered from it. In 2023, the world recorded only 14 cases, with the disease on the verge of being only the second ever to be eradicated (after smallpox in 1980).