Addressing Global Challenges

Services

Focus Areas

Capabilities for Addressing Global Challenges:

Every corner of the world is grappling with complex sets of interconnected challenges that defy single solutions. Authoritarian states and actors are reversing hard-won democratic gains while breaking social norms by normalizing hate speech; attacking democratic institutions; and using intimidation, fear, misogyny, and polarization to gain and maintain power. Climate change, infectious disease, violent conflict, and mass migration continues unabated with new consequences for hundreds of millions of global citizens. The information ecosystem, which is a critical resource, is also changing rapidly while technological advancement outpaces the ability of governments and citizens to regulate, understand, and harness technology in ways that protect basic rights. All of these challenges are magnified by malicious actors using information manipulation to erode belief in science and facts, and to sow doubt in democratic processes and institutions.

The Addressing Global Challenges team at Metropolitan Group/Impacto Social Metropolitan Group (MG/ISMG) seeks to understand these challenges, to design solutions that work at the intersections of these issues, and to partner with local stakeholders to develop practical tools to help federal agencies, foundations, and NGOs to address these global challenges.

A core part of our approach to addressing global challenges is Narrative Change and Public Will Building, which are critical social and behavior change (SBC) tools designed to create lasting and sustainable impact for people and communities around the world. MG is deeply versed in all stages of SBC research, analysis, assessment, design, iterative implementation, learning capture, and dissemination.

MG/ISMG is a global small business and a Certified B Corp dedicated to research, design and implementation of social impact initiatives. We do this in two core ways: 1) by co-creating strategic campaigns and narrative initiatives that improve enabling environments to drive changes in attitudes, behaviors, practices, policies, mindsets, institutional cultures, and social norms; and 2) by building the capacity and resilience of institutions and organizations that drive social change.

We have worked in nearly 30 countries on five continents, most recently in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and Central Europe. Our in-house staff in Mexico and the U.S. includes bilingual speakers (English and Spanish), as well as staff who are professionally proficient in French, Portuguese, and Swahili.

Our team has been privileged to work alongside our clients for social change on issues in advancing democracy and protecting human rights; migration; climate change adaptation and environmental justice; global health; countering corruption, advancing digital democracy, and more.

Here are just a few examples:

Advancing Women’s Rights in Tunisia: We launched the Advancing the Rights of Women Agriculture Workers project, which applied SBC strategies to shift narratives about the rights of women workers in collaboration with two respected women’s organizations in the interior regions of Tunisia. With evidence and research, we developed and tested a new narrative and messaging, which was applied through the Felha campaign.
Improving Effectiveness of State-level Justice Institutions in Mexico: This five-year project seeks to advance and support systemic transformations in the Mexican criminal justice system to reduce impunity and increase trust at the state level. MG/ISMG is providing technical assistance and strategic communication to support judicial institutions, as well as nontraditional actors (i.e., civil society, private sector, academic sector), to advance resilient organizational and structural reforms that connect with end-users’ values, needs, and expectations. MG/ISMG co-created a manual of best practices for inclusive communication in the justice system informed by the work of state institutions.
Narrative and Messaging Research – Strategic Messaging for Democratic Values: We have worked in 11 countries to identify and map narratives that either advance or delegitimize democracy, democratic institutions, and democratic values. The evidence and data from research are used to develop proactive narrative and messaging to advance democracy and push back against weaponized messaging.
Defending Civic Space in Mexico: We are elevating the voices and value of civil society organizations (CSOs) working on the defense and promotion of civic space in Mexico, particularly those focusing on human rights and democratic principles. This is being accomplished through a combination of capacity building, direct technical assistance, and support to a cohort of CSOs.
Countering Corruption through SBC: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Anti-Corruption Task Force commissioned MG to conduct research and write a report on the use of SBC approaches to address social norms and behaviors related to corruption, and to develop recommendations to improve current and future anti-corruption activities.
Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights: In Mexico, ISMG partnered with CSOs, policymakers, and influencers to create and apply a groundbreaking SBC initiative focused on addressing severe human rights abuses, including forced disappearances, femicide, murder of journalists, and state-sanctioned torture. Through innovative stakeholder mapping and deconstruction of dominant narratives that advance impunity, ISMG designed a new metanarrative that activates core values and engages citizens as part of an effort to build a more trusted judicial system. The initiative has engaged millions and mobilized thousands through activities that counter disinformation and corruption, and promote justice, the rule of law, and civil society activism.
Advancing Gender Equity in Guatemala and El Salvador: MG/ISMG is working directly with grassroots organizations and media outlets to develop and convey their own intersectional narratives to advance gender equity, justice, and rule of law at local and national levels. By understanding the existing narrative landscape, including the mechanisms being deployed to attack these groups,, MG/ISMG is providing direct technical assistance to create hope-based narratives and SBC communication initiatives to advance gender equality and CSO goals.
Human Rights Work in El Salvador: MG/ISMG developed a collaborative campaign to call for the release of women who were imprisoned in El Salvador as a result of suffering obstetric emergencies. This campaign elevated and leveraged the work that has, for many years, been carried out by local Salvadoran CSOs. MG/ISMG developed the strategy for the campaign in partnership with local CSOs, international women’s and reproductive rights advocates, and others. As a result, all the imprisoned women have been released and allowed to return home to their families.
Migration Narratives, Policy and Power: Migration narratives are intimately connected to the design and implementation of policies as well as to shifts in political power that affect not just newcomers to a region, but the health of communities and countries as a whole. MG, the Migration Policy Institute, the RAND Corporation, and the National Immigration Forum researched migration in five countries and published a comprehensive report on the issue.