CIDS’ twofold mission includes:
- expanding the classical top-down model of poverty alleviation to one of shared governance and community participation for improving quality of life for poor and marginalized groups; and
- leveraging diverse perspectives and practices on development and channeling them to nurture cutting-edge innovations that promote a more equitable and resilient future for all.
CIDS will promote such innovation in development by fostering a culture of collaboration whereby scholars and practitioners with varied skills, resources, and experiences will come together, share ideas, and test and deploy the most promising ones to tackle the development challenges we confront. CIDS’ research and engagement model will go beyond nurturing innovative ideas to focus on translating those ideas into actions that will deliver measurable results in the real world and particularly low and middle income countries (LMICs).