Neha Sahu, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Launch Girls

At Launch Girls, we equip underserved girls across South Asia and Africa with the skills, agency, and support networks to move from learning to earning. Over time, we realized that if we want to work with millions of girls and scale, we have to work with the government. But building trust with the government takes time and patience. And here are some strategies that have worked for us.

Build strong relationships

You have to build really strong relationships in order to build trust. You might have a lot of data and evidence, but that does not stand the true test of the relationship. At Launch Girls, we do this by having simple rituals: we show up regularly, keep government stakeholders updated, and even go and visit them when we don't have an ask. It's important that they see you and know what is happening regularly, and not only when you need something from them. And there's this sense of transparency that we always show them, telling them about what's going well and also about what's not going well. By doing so, and doing it sensitively, they can become a part of the journey with you. 

Embed ownership with the government

We also embed ownership within these systems by never facilitating ourselves, but building the capacity of the government stakeholders. So we involve them right from creation, where they are co-designing with us, delivering everything, and involved in the feedback cycles and loops. And one step beyond this is letting them fully own it by naming it, putting their logo on it, and also sharing credit for it. At the end of the day our goal is that they own it and take charge and so they should feel that this is not an us-versus-them situation. When you do this, trust is just automatic and seamless.

Build relationships at different levels

We operate at two levels, top-down and ground-up. And we see both having to move together because you need your allies, your advisors and champions at the top policy level, and simultaneously at the operational level to ensure your work keeps moving forward. This strategy also helps with times of change, for example, elections in countries, there are changes of leadership and priorities shift. When people at the top level, like ministers, and at the bottom level, like field operators, know what you do and why you do it, and you have strong relationships with them, they advocate for you and stay with you. And the consistency that you bring to these relationships at different levels shows that you are here for the long haul and that you are not outsiders but partners as part of the same mission with the government.

Key takeaways

• Show up consistently and communicate openly so government partners trust you and see you as equals.

• Build government ownership by co-designing, sharing credit, and letting them lead so trust becomes seamless.

• Nurture relationships at every level so allies and champions stay with you through leadership changes.