Why we’re watching: With humanitarian crises growing, there’s growing urgency to find a new model. The Start Network is a decade-old NGO network that has had its ups and downs, and recently emerged as a fully independent organization. It’s trying to change the way humanitarian work is done.

Leadership: Christina Bennett, CEO.
Tidbit: The network began when NGO directors in London began meetings in pubs during the 2008 financial crisis to discuss a way forward for the struggling humanitarian community.
Staff: 48.
$: £35.8 million ($48.5 million) in humanitarian spending to its members (2020).
Follow: Sara Jerving.

Analysis: Humanitarian needs are vastly outstripping resources and the systems designed to address those needs are outdated, top-heavy, and no longer fit for purpose — that was the conclusion of the Grand Bargain. Nonetheless, change has been hard to come by. Examples of new models that actually deliver funds locally are sparse, as are those that provide funds quickly when they’re needed and even in anticipation of an emergency. In fact, the Grand Bargain set a target of 25% of international humanitarian assistance going to local and national organizations by 2020. By that year, the actual result was 3.1%. That’s why the Start Network, a network of NGOs trying to reinvent humanitarian action, is worth some attention. Born in 2010 as the Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies, the network has grown to 55 national and international NGO members and is independently run after nine years of incubation at Save the Children UK. Start has become a testing ground for funding and implementation innovations in the humanitarian sector, innovations which must become more widespread if the Grand Bargain’s goals are ever to be met. — RK.

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