THE LIMITS OF LOCALIZATION: WHAT LOCAL ACTORS SAY 10 YEARS LATER: 2016-2026

MEET THE AUTHORS

Iyad Agha

Regional Expert, Middle East and North Africa

Iyad Agha is a localization and coordination expert with over 20 years of experience across humanitarian action and civil society. He has held senior advisory roles with the United Nations and NGO platforms and most recently served as Director of the Sudan INGO Forum during active conflict, supporting coordination and donor engagement in highly complex environments.

Allwell Akhigbe

Regional Expert, Africa

Allwell Akhigbe is Co-Founder and CEO of Travaille Ensemble, an African fundraising consultancy focused on strengthening financial sustainability for local organizations. He has more than eight years of experience supporting nonprofits and social enterprises across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

He is widely recognized for democratizing access to fundraising knowledge through his #FundraiseWithAllwell series, which reaches thousands of practitioners. Since 2025, he has trained more than 1,500 NGO professionals across Africa on alternative funding models and diversification strategies

Michael Delaney

Study Director

Michael Delaney has worked in the field of international development for over 40 years, leading Oxfam America’s humanitarian emergency response through some of the largest scale disasters in our time. Whether working with local community programs,  addressing long-term development needs  or directing emergency responses, he has championed the primacy of local community leadership.  Michael has worked through his carreer to ensure that the voices of those threatened and affected by disasters are at the table to design and implement appropriate responses. As the Executive Director of Perkins International, Michael led the development of a new and successful strategy which both focused the work and created financial sustainability with new income streams from both international governments and foundations. Michael founded Crescendo International to support  stronger and more effective humanitarian actions that will help local communities not only save lives and recover, but also become more resilient to the next crisis event. Delaney recently completed 4 years as the Humanitarian Action Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School.

Enrique Garcia

Regional Expert, Latin America & Caribbean

Based in Mexico, Enrique Garcia has led humanitarian responses for over thirty years throughout the Latin American continent.   From refugee crisis to droughts, to hurricanes and earthquakes, Enrique has been on the front lines of the disasters and understands  the successful ingredients to a successful humanitarian response.  Most recently he has shared his vast experience by focusing on capacity building and disaster risk reduction in  Central American and South America. His commitment to community is demonstrated through his volunteer work with youth leadership in local marginalized urban communities of San Salvador, El Salvador where he is based

Isabella Jean

Lead Researcher

Isabella Jean is a senior advisor and learning partner with 25 years of experience supporting international and local organizations, bilateral donors, private foundations, and UN agencies. Her work focuses on improving the effectiveness and accountability of aid and philanthropy while strengthening equitable partnerships that advance locally led action.

She has facilitated collaborative learning and action research across multiple regions and co-authored Time to Listen, a widely cited critique of externally driven aid models.

Shalini Sharma Kanwar

Regional Expert, Asia-Pacific

Shalini Sharma Kanwar is a disaster risk management specialist with over 15 years of experience across the Asia-Pacific region. She has led multi-country initiatives strengthening partnerships among local NGOs, governments, and private sector actors, and has developed tools and methodologies supporting inclusive, locally led disaster preparedness and response.