In episode 17 of Lit’EDTech Fiesta, Daastan invites Mr. Blair Glencorse from Accountability Lab. As a non-profit organization, Accountability Lab is the accumulation of the efforts of founder, Blair Glencorse and like minded people for empowering the youth and emphasizing on civic responsibility. Mr. Glencorse discusses the initial challenges faced by them, where they are now and what they hope to achieve holistically.
What is Accountability Lab?
Mr. Glencorse terms the Accountability Lab as “a civil society organization”. The ethos of the organization appears to be to empower the youth in bringing about societal change. He aims to inculcates within them the idea that “we can create the change that we want to see”. With 12 country chapters ranging from Pakistan to Somalia to Mexico, their influence is widespread. They do three main things. Firstly, they aim to run campaigns to get young people engaged in the kinds of conversation that brings about change. Secondly, they conduct training and knowledge building workshops. Finally, they also work towards engaging citizens in decision building on the local level.
Challenges faced by the Accountability Lab
In terms of challenges, they were faced with the issue of funding. Accountability Lab is a product of crowdfunding whereby it was the people’s trust in the idea that motivated them to financially support it as well. Moreover, they also faced more technical issues in terms of the dynamics of the organization. They had to ponder over the governance of the organization, making sure that the “right people” were part of the team. However, the most significant challenge they faced was building trust, which is an essential component of the organization.
“It takes trust to generate conversations that become the source of change”.
Mr. Glencorse’s vision and Pakistan
There is an entire team working within Pakistan to fulfil Mr. Glencorse’s vision. An example of a popular campaign is the integrity icon campaign which aims to change the narrative around excelling civil servants in Pakistan. Mr. Glencorse encourages all those who are interested in the ethos behind Accountability Lab to get in touch and explore the various workshops available to them, as well as get involved in other ways.
You can stream the full episode here. For upcoming episodes, stay tuned!
