What Imago Global Grassroots does

Imago Global Grassroots is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2014 by Isabel Guerrero (former World Bank Vice President for South Asia) and Zachary Green to address what the organization calls the 'missing middle' in international development — the gap between small grassroots organizations with effective solutions that cannot reach scale, and large programs that fail to reach the last mile. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. with regional offices in India and Paraguay, Imago provides consulting, capacity-building, and evaluation services to a client base spanning grassroots organizations, social enterprises, nonprofits, foundations, and international agencies across Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Named engagements include SEWA, Pratham, Solar Sister, Fundación Paraguaya, Tata Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the World Bank, and UN Women, with foundation funding from Gates Foundation, Co-Impact, Lemann Foundation, and IDB Lab.

The organization's service portfolio is organized around three pillars: a 3-stage Diagnosis-Strategy-Action consulting process, Leadership and Organizational Development, and Evaluation, Learning and Research. Its proprietary Adaptive Evaluation methodology — a complexity-based systematic learning approach incorporating rapid prototyping, process tracing, and A/B testing — is positioned as a differentiator for programs operating in complex development environments. Imago supplements direct consulting with a cohort-based Scaling Up for Social Impact course, a published book (Scaling Up Development Impact, 2024, included in Stanford SSIR's reading list), and a fellowship program. The team of 45+ professionals is entirely based in the Global South, drawing from Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia SIPA, MIT, TISS, and prior tenures at the World Bank, IDB, UNDP, and J-PAL.

Revenue is generated through fee-for-service consulting engagements billed on a project basis with multi-year contracts rather than through a productized SaaS model; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The organization publishes Form 990 filings and annual reports but specific revenue figures are not disclosed in the source materials. GTM is relationship-driven enterprise field sales: long-term, high-touch engagements where Imago functions as a thought partner consulted during implementation and crises, supported by thought-leadership content (publications, webinars, featured interview series) rather than paid marketing.

Name

Imago Global Grassroots

Legal name

Imago Global Grassroots

Website

https://imagogg.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Imago Global Grassroots is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps grassroots organizations, social enterprises, and foundations scale impact through consulting, leadership development, and its proprietary Adaptive Evaluation methodology across Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the US.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development Consulting

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

International & Local Implementing NGOs (HLAJAKAD), Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building & Policy Advisory Programs (BPADABAO)

Keywords

• International development consulting
• Organizational capacity building
• Adaptive evaluation services
• Social impact scaling
• Leadership development advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Capacity Building & Consulting Services: Imago provides fee-for-service consulting engagements including organizational diagnosis, strategy development, leadership development, and evaluation services to mission-driven organizations, foundations, and government agencies. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements rather than a product-based model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Imago Global Grassroots is a nonprofit consulting organization that delivers fee-for-service capacity-building and advisory support to mission-driven organizations. Its core service is a three-stage Diagnosis-Strategy-Action process, supported by proprietary Adaptive Evaluation methodology, leadership and organizational development, and a cohort-based Scaling Up for Social Impact course. Clients include grassroots organizations, nonprofits, social enterprises, foundations, governments, and international agencies working to scale poverty alleviation and development solutions.

Product overview

Imago Global Grassroots offers a portfolio of consulting and capacity-building services organized around three core pillars: Diagnosis, Strategy & Action (a three-stage organizational transformation process); Leadership & Organizational Development (leadership strengthening, resilience building, change management); and Evaluation, Learning & Research (including their proprietary Adaptive Evaluation methodology). They supplement these with a Scaling Up for Social Impact course, the Scaling Up Development Impact book publication, and the Imago Fellowship program. Their approach integrates workshops, Agile for Grassroots methodologies, qualitative research, systems thinking, and design thinking into their service delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Diagnosis, Strategy & Action Consulting
• Leadership & Organizational Development
• Evaluation, Learning & Research
• Adaptive Evaluation
• Scaling Up for Social Impact Course
• Imago Fellowship Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 12 years of experience supporting organizations worldwide to scale impact

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• SEWA / SEWA BharatcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago has worked with SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) since its founding, supporting the scaling of women's collective enterprises through adaptive evaluation and capacity building. SEWA represents over 1.5-2 million women members.
• PrathamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago conducted a case study on how Pratham learns using adaptive evaluation, examining how the organization scales education programs while maintaining adaptive capacity.
• Lemann FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLemann Foundation collaborates with Imago on educational programs in Brazil, working with public leaders to design and implement new policies to advance public education.
• World BankmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago collaborates with the World Bank on social enterprise development programs and has worked on projects involving labor markets and good quality jobs.
• UN WomenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago partners with UN Women on strategic initiatives for women's empowerment, including supporting the UN Women Strategic Plan.
• Lever for ChangecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLever for Change's Bold Solutions Network collaborated with Imago to host the Feminine Leadership Dialogue Series, featuring women leaders across the world.
• The Nature ConservancymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago provides strategy support to The Nature Conservancy for scaling conservation programs.
• Poverty Stoplight (Fundación Paraguaya)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago worked with Fundación Paraguaya on their Poverty Stoplight program, a participatory poverty assessment tool replicated in over 29 countries.
• TARL Africa (Teaching at the Right Level)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago works with TARL Africa on scaling education interventions across Africa.
• CAMFEDmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAMFED (Campaign for Female Education) partners with Imago on girls' education and empowerment initiatives.
• Solar SistercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago guided Solar Sister in developing their strategy for women entrepreneurs in clean energy.
• BRAC – Ultra Poor Graduation InitiativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBRAC's Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative collaborates with Imago on poverty alleviation programs.
• Transform Rural India (TRIF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago collaborates with TRIF on rural development initiatives in India, supporting the National Rural Livelihood Mission framework.
• Kudumbashree National Resource OrganizationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImago works extensively with Kudumbashree NRO on women's enterprise promotion, SVEP implementation, and capacity building for State Rural Livelihood Missions.
• Presencing Institute (MIT)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIsabel Guerrero serves on the board of the Presencing Institute at MIT. Imago conducted workshops with Otto Scharmer's team on scaling.
• Harvard Kennedy SchoolmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple Imago staff and founders hold positions at Harvard. Isabel Guerrero teaches 'Scaling Up for Development Impact' at Harvard.
• Instituto NaturamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarcela Souto previously led the creation of Instituto Natura in Chile, and Imago continues collaboration on social impact initiatives.
• Fundación ChilemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFundación Chile is a public-private institution innovating on public issues in Chile, collaborating on vocational education and development programs.
• Gerando FalcoesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian social development organization collaborating with Imago on social impact scaling in Brazil.
• IDInsightminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDInsight works on generating and using evidence for social impact, aligning with Imago's adaptive evaluation approach.
• Breakthrough TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBreakthrough Trust works on gender equality and social justice issues in India.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• IDInsight: IDInsight generates and uses evidence for social impact across Africa and Asia, working with funders and implementers on adaptive monitoring, evaluation and learning. It is directly comparable to Imago in applying data-driven MEL approaches to international development programs.
• Dalberg: Dalberg is a global consulting firm focused on international development, philanthropy and social impact, providing strategy and advisory to foundations, NGOs, multilaterals and governments. Its mission and client base closely mirror Imago's, including engagement with foundations and capacity building of mission-driven organizations.
• FSG: FSG is a mission-driven consulting firm advising foundations, corporations and nonprofits on strategy, evaluation and learning for social impact. Its shared mission of supporting mission-driven organizations with strategic scaling engagements makes it a direct functional peer to Imago.
• The Bridgespan Group: Bridgespan advises nonprofits, philanthropists and social sector organizations on strategy, organization building and scaling impact. Its focus on helping nonprofits and foundations increase effectiveness directly aligns with Imago's organizational development and scaling services.
• Synergos: Synergos bridges philanthropy and poverty alleviation by building bridges between funders, governments and community organizations in the Global South. Its emphasis on capacity building and partnerships for grassroots impact is directly comparable to Imago's approach.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA): IPA generates and promotes evidence on what works in development through randomized evaluations, partnering with NGOs and governments to scale effective programs. Its evidence-to-scale model and Global South presence make it a direct peer in applying research to scale social impact.
• TechnoServe: TechnoServe works with enterprising women and men in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries, often in partnership with foundations and NGOs. Its focus on enterprise development and scaling poverty solutions across Latin America, Africa and South Asia parallels Imago's work with SEWA, Solar Sister and Kudumbashree.

Broad incumbents

• DAI: DAI is a global development company implementing donor-funded programs across more than 80 countries, with capabilities spanning program design, MEL and capacity building. While much larger and more implementation-focused, it operates in overlapping MEL and capacity building markets that Imago serves.

Emerging players

• Bridges to Prosperity: While focused on infrastructure rather than capacity building, Bridges to Prosperity is comparable as a mission-driven organization working with local partners to scale poverty alleviation solutions across the Global South, including with foundations like Tata Trust that Imago also serves.

Others

• The Presencing Institute: The Presencing Institute, founded by Otto Scharmer at MIT, partners with Imago on scaling and leadership workshops and shares overlapping theory of change frameworks around systems change. It is an adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor, given its focus on awareness-based social technologies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/imago_gg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvmuV5KFLVgcFracDmPDcqQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/imagoglobalgrassroots
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/imago-global-grassroots
• Instagraminstagram.com/imago_gg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Imago Global Grassroots