After nine months of consultation, reflection, and refinement, Trickle Up is proud to launch its 2026–2030 strategy: Scaling What Works—A Strategy for Locally Led Economic Inclusion. 

The length of this process was intentional. From the outset, we wanted this strategy to be grounded not only in evidence, but also in lived experience—shaped by the perspectives of our regional teams, stress tested by partners working on the front lines, and informed by global thought leaders helping to define the future of economic inclusion.  

Over the past nine months, we engaged colleagues across India, Latin America, and the Caribbean, consulted deeply with our Board, and sought input from a broad community of practitioners, researchers, funders, and policymakers. Their feedback consistently validated our direction: economic inclusion works—but to meet the scale of today’s challenges, it must be locally led, embedded in systems, and designed to adapt. 

Why a New Strategy, and Why Now? 

The global context has shifted dramatically. Nearly 700 million people still live on less than $3 per day, and recent gains in poverty reduction have stalled or reversed due to climate shocks, conflict, and economic volatility. At the same time, funding constraints are forcing difficult choices across the development sector. In this environment, incremental change is no longer enough. 

Economic inclusion approaches and Graduation programs have one of the strongest evidence bases in global development. These programs combine cash or asset transfers, savings, skills training, coaching, and access to services to help people build sustainable livelihoods. Trickle Up has been part of this movement for decades. Yet scaling our impact through direct implementation alone will never reach everyone who could benefit. To achieve scale, economic inclusion must be delivered through local systems by working with governments, civil society organizations, and community-based actors that have the legitimacy and reach to sustain impact over time. 

A Strategic Shift: From Implementer to Systems Enabler 

Our 2026–2030 strategy reflects a deliberate shift in Trickle Up’s role. While we will continue to pilot and demonstrate innovative approaches, our primary focus will be on strengthening local systems to deliver high quality economic inclusion programs at scale. Through partnerships and technical assistance, we aim to support locally led solutions that are adapted to context, resilient to shocks, and capable of reaching those most often left behind. 

Through this approach, Trickle Up aims to help reach five million people by 2030, while reducing dependency on external actors and embedding economic inclusion within national and subnational systems. 

What We Mean by Economic Inclusion 

At the core of Trickle Up’s Economic Inclusion approach are three interconnected pillars: 

• Resilience–building, through consumption support, financial services, and climate adaptive practices that help families withstand shocks and protect gains. 

• Economic empowerment, achieved through seed capital, savings, skills training, and market linkages that enable households to build viable livelihoods. 

• Social inclusion, fostered through coaching, community engagement, and growing digital agency—particularly for women—to challenge harmful norms and reduce isolation. 

Every program we support applies a gender transformative lens, integrates climate resilience, and prioritizes market-based solutions to ensure impact that lasts beyond the life of a project. 

Innovation, Research, and Learning at the Center 

Scaling what works requires continuous learning. Over this strategic period, Trickle Up will invest in two core innovation and research priorities. 

First, advancing digital agency: ensuring that participants, especially women, can confidently access, use, and benefit from digital tools and services. Digital inclusion is no longer optional; it is essential for economic participation, access to markets, and engagement with public systems. 

Second, strengthening local systems: building the capacity of institutions to design, finance, implement, and adapt economic inclusion programs. This includes technical assistance, peer learning, and rigorous research to understand what enables scale without sacrificing quality. 

Looking Ahead 

These efforts will be underpinned by a strong evidence agenda, including randomized controlled trials, operational research, and real-time data systems. This approach pushes us to be more cost-effective in how we design and deliver economic inclusion programs by starting simple, testing in real time, and letting participant data guide continuous adaptation. We will also explore the responsible use of ethical AI to improve program delivery and decision-making, always keeping participant safeguards front and center. 

As we enter the first phase of this four-year strategy, we invite partners—governments, local organizations, funders, researchers, and practitioners—to join us in this next chapter.  

We are strengthening our internal systems to support a rigorous learning agenda: improving data management; enhancing monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL); ensuring robust outcomes tracking; and building our capacity to analyze and act on insights. Building on a strong organizational foundation, we are hiring dynamically and intentionally shifting our culture toward one that continuously uses data and learning to evolve our model. Together with partners who share this commitment, we aim to scale economic inclusion more effectively, making the most responsible use of limited resources over the strategy period while maximizing impact for participants. 

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