Our Theory of Change

A Roadmap to EMPOWERMENT

I often get asked why our model includes jobs, education and mentorship. The answer is actually simple; we’ve been studying life-change over the last 6 years and believe that the combination of these three initiatives is an excellent way to support the empowerment process. We know this because we have developed a theory of change, which helps us answer 3 very critical questions: 1. What is empowerment? 2. How does empowerment happen? 3. What can KKi do to best support the empowerment process and therefore generate the highest impact in a woman's life? A theory of change is a lot like Google Maps. You might use Maps to give you turn-by-turn directions to your nearest Starbucks. We use our theory of change as a roadmap to empowerment that outlines the path from poverty to wellbeing. It guides our work on the ground to ensure that we have deep impact on program participants. The reality is that empowerment is a messy and challenging process because it involves people and people are complex (we are talking about multiple pages of directions to stay true to the analogy). One of the reasons I believe our programs are so successful at producing impact is that our Theory of Change takes into account the whole person. There are 6 key areas of our personhood that affect our wellbeing; financial, intellectual, physical (health), social, emotional and spiritual. We believe that all of these must be invested into for a person to be truly empowered and therefore we are constantly at work to provide a holistic program that empowers the whole person. Our theory of change is this: We believe that a person is empowered when they meet the following six goals:

• They have dignified work where they earn a fair income.
• They possess the knowledge of how to invest their resources to bring about positive change.
• They are physically healthy.
• They are supported by strong relationships with family and friends.
• They are able to emotionally cope with the challenges life throws at them.
• They are connected to an encouraging faith community.

Our program model is built around this concept of what empowerment is. A job provides life-changing resources, holistic education equips people with the knowledge to navigate a path towards wellbeing and mentorship provides the support needed to overcome challenges. The combination of these three initiatives equips a person with the knowledge and resources they need to leave poverty, forever. In an age when it is said that you can change a life by purchasing a pencil, a pair of shoes, a backpack or a bottle of water we take pride in the fact that we do more than fly-by development. When you purchase a KKi product you can trust that you are providing a level and quality of services that among the best and most strategic in the developing world. We are excited to share more about our vision for empowerment and how we go about accomplishing it. Our hope with these posts is that they become a conversation so please feel free to comment with any thoughts. -Adam