Innovation and knowledge communities are increasingly used to tackle complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. From organizational innovation platforms to large international ecosystems, these communities bring together diverse actors to learn, collaborate, and co-create solutions. Yet assessing their value and impact remains methodologically challenging. In 2024, Key Impact conducted a global literature review, funded by the Hive - the Hub for Social Initiative

Between 2021 and 2023, the project Amplify, Verify, Engage: Information for Democratization and Good Governance in Eurasia (AVE)  sought to strengthen independent media, civil society, and cross-border cooperation in contexts marked by shrinking civic space, political repression, and violent conflict. Implemented by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) and funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AVE operated across Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Bela

For nearly two decades, the JDC-FSU Young Leadership Program (YLP) played a central role in strengthening Jewish community life across Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. Launched in 2002 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), YLP aimed to cultivate a new generation of committed, capable local Jewish leaders who could actively contribute to their communities. Between September 2019 and July 2020, Key Impact, in collaboration with Info Sapiens Ukraine, con

This post recommends an academic paper by Dr. Yuval Ofek that addresses the challenges of evaluating community-level social exclusion interventions, particularly within university-community partnerships. Drawing on an action research case study in northern Israel, the paper explores how evaluation can balance learning and improvement with accountability demands in complex settings.

This post recommends an academic article by Dr. Yuval Ofek that reframes how evaluation approaches should be chosen for complex interventions. Drawing on case studies and empirical research, the article shows how misaligned evaluation methods can undermine learning and accountability. It introduces a practical tool for matching evaluation approaches to levels of nonlinearity and complexity, offering clear guidance for evaluators, managers, and funders working in complex progr