From Love Not Log Frames to Connection Not Abstraction

In 2021, I wrote “Love, not log frames,” a piece inspired by watching civil society step up during the pandemic. It called for greater trust and empathy in giving.

Four years later, I see something deeper. In this new piece for India Development Review (IDR), “Connection, not abstraction,” I’m grappling with how real change happens. Yes, trust matters, and yes, unrestricted funding is crucial. But I’m learning that our role in philanthropy isn’t to design solutions at all but to create spaces where communities can connect, belong, and lead their transformation.

What excites me is seeing how many of us are converging on similar insights from different paths. Whether it’s the Centre for Exponential Change’s work, Blue Ribbon Movement, Einhorn Collaborative, Agami’s experiments in justice making, Rakesh Rajani’s vision at Just Systems, what TIAL (The Institutional Architecture Lab) is working on, Brian Stout’s community of Building Belonging, Kshetra Foundation for Dialogue, or Socratus Collective Wisdom Corporation’s innovations – we’re all circling these fundamental truths about connection and emergence. In many ways, we’re rediscovering what Margaret Wheatley and others have long taught us about how living systems work and change emerges.

I owe this evolution in thinking to so many people and places and wisdom-carriers like john powell. Their stories and insights teach me that the most powerful solutions aren’t the ones we can package and scale—they’re the ones that emerge when people find each other and create together.

Originally written for LinkedIn on 19 January 2025. View original →