Iñigo Kortabitarte, Founder & CEO, OKencasa

In our case, OKencasa began as a research project to provide psychoeducational support to people caring for a family member at home. After several years working with universities to validate the clinical aspect of the model, we partnered with the public administration of the Basque Country.

They loved the idea, and both the provincial and regional governments were clear that they wanted to incorporate the service. In the Basque Country, Euskadi, and in Spain, as in many other places, changes in public officials tend to affect contracts and services.

The question is how to keep these services and relationships stable through the changes. We have learned three approaches that help.

Inform and engage all parties

The first approach is to keep all political parties informed, not only the one that hires you, but to maintain impartiality while doing so. This is especially relevant when working in social impact because the other parties understand the value of the work and what is being achieved. They feel informed and, if they come into government, it is more likely that they will continue the contract or service being provided. It does not guarantee it in any case, but it can generate a positive predisposition towards your work.

Keep innovating, stay indispensable

The second strategy would be to maintain a profile of continuous innovation. If you are constantly innovating, it becomes much more costly for any new political party to replace you with another provider offering something similar. In turn, this can strengthen the service you are providing. 

Build strong technical relationships

And finally, I think it is very important to take advantage of the technical layer. There are technical and political layers in governments. The technical layer, the technical officials, are the ones who remain when the political agents change. And therefore, relationships with that technical layer provide continuity. You must also try to build solid and lasting relationships with the political layer because, when they move to other positions, they can reach levels of responsibility or influence that can open doors for you. So working on these relationships, both technically and politically, is very important.

Key takeaways

• Keep all political stakeholders informed to build trust and ensure continuity when leadership changes.

• Innovate constantly so your service stays valuable and difficult to replace across administrations.

• Build relationships with technical staff. They stay when politics shift and can open future doors.