How we work matters

anchoring principles

Hailing from the practice of Developmental Evaluation, Anchoring Principles are a set of values that are at the heart of an organisation, program or policy. Anchoring Principles are best designed in a participatory fashion, and serve as a tool for strategic development and assessment. Our Anchoring Principles were designed over a set of workshops with the full team and, like our dual mission, reflect how we work with each other and with our clients.  

Passion for impact
We work with organisations, programs and people that strive for positive change in the lives of persons whose rights are at risk globally. Impact-orientation and a genuine passion to support better representation of the rights of all people is also what brought and keeps our team together. In addition to supporting social-impact-driven initiatives, PIL has impacted its very associates through access to meaningful and fairly compensated consulting assignments aligned with our team’s values, passions and availability.
Level playing field
At PIL, we work to challenge existing power dynamics to promote equity. Set up as a hub of consulting professionals, we are also accountable to each other, share leadership, and live and work by our values. As consultants, we bring people with different perspectives to the table already from the very research design process to ensure transformative participation of people meant to benefit from programs and policies, and due representation of legitimate agendas. In this process, we take care to engage duty bearers to support their accountability to the communities they serve, and to drive shared decision-making.  
Authenticity every time
Our teams work on assignments they are the best fit for in terms of interests and passions, thematic, geographic, language and methods knowledge. We always take the time to understand our client’s underlying needs and incorporate bespoke approaches from our ever-growing toolbox to best address them. We actively engage in professional learning opportunities and communities of practice, and all of our team in addition to consulting work engages in academic and field work within our thematic expertise areas.
We’re a keeper
As consultants, we learn a lot about the people, organisations and topics we work on and with. We value this growing knowledge and familiarity with human rights organizations and their approaches, and since 2017 have built long-standing and trusting relationships with many of them. We often work with return clients and find new ways of engagement including by supporting dissemination of learnings or ongoing development of social interventions. In the team, we also value continuity and many of our current associates have come to stay.

Mission

Our purpose is as much about our colleagues as our clients. We provide meaningful work opportunities for researchers and strive to maintain a work environment that is organised horizontally, creates just and stimulating working conditions, and fosters respect between colleagues. Working in this way, we accompany social change-focused organisations to support their respective missions, increase their accountability and be their critical friend.