Areas of Expertise

Global Development

FSG partners with our clients and funders to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative approaches to improve the lives of the world’s poor. We advise foundations, corporations, NGOs, and public sector organizations, individually and collectively, on strategies to address a range of development issues. We also develop innovative, market-based solutions to address social problems by combining targeted analytics with deep industry facilitation to foster development of inclusive markets.

Mars worked with FSG to support farmers and cocoa production in Côte D’Ivoire.

Expertise

Drawing from our team’s on-the-ground experience in more than 50 developing countries, our work incorporates FSG’s concepts of catalytic philanthropy, shared value, inclusive markets, and collective impact to advance sustainable change at scale in the following areas.

Value chain sustainability, farm-level production systems, smallholder livelihoods, and certification systems across a range of production systems including cocoa, vanilla, rice, palm oil, peanuts, dairy, fisheries, and forestry.

Private sector development strategies, small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development, entrepreneurship, impact investing, and inclusive markets.

Microfinance, microcredit, impact investing, SME financing, mobile banking, and rural agricultural finance.

Early childhood education, youth learning, workforce development, and entrepreneurship education.

Private sector talent development, market-driven training, universities and training centers, and regional workforce collaboratives.

Female empowerment, social norms, health, education, and workforce development.

Digital literacy, access to information and communications technology (ICT), education technology, and entrepreneurship development.

Low-income housing market and value chain analysis, ecosystem development, industry facilitation, and human-centered design.

Toilet market and value chain analysis, customer demand drivers and segmentation, financing needs, and ecosystem assessment.

How We Work

Our global development services range from targeted efforts that address specific questions to in-depth, multi-year engagements that accompany clients and funders from early stage vision through the implementation of major initiatives.

  • Customized consulting: Providing strategy, business planning, landscaping and benchmarking analysis, customer needs assessments, and implementation support to individual clients and multi-actor initiatives.
  • Impact-focused evaluation: Designing evaluation systems and conducting evaluations to demonstrate impact and improve decision making and performance.
  • Industry facilitation and coalition development: Fostering ecosystem development, structured collaborations, cross-sector initiatives, and market-based approaches focused on addressing complex, dynamic systems change.
  • Cutting edge research: Developing and disseminating fresh insights, knowledge briefs, and practical tools to improve sector effectiveness.

Case Studies

A lot of times a consultant helps you put a notebook on the shelf. What we developed was a strategy that is tied to the corporate strategy and is having a direct impact on what we’re doing from a business and a social impact perspective. FSG helped us create the right tools, training, and process.
Rob Vallentine, President, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation and Director of Global Citizenship, The Dow Chemical Company
The FSG team made a major contribution by analyzing how large international NGOs can evolve to meet new needs in a rapidly changing context. The report they prepared brought new insights and has sparked a powerful dialogue within the sector.
Ruth Levine, Director, Global Development and Population Program, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
FSG was critical in helping us develop a strategy for expansion, based on our unique resources and experience in microfinance. The team provided a rigorous framework that would allow us to expand, while keeping our focus on providing financial services for women. FSG exceeded our expectations.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Women's World Banking

Work with Us

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