The Broker

The Broker, the Netherlands based knowledge brokering organization for international development, is looking for new Supervisory Board members. 

We believe that making better use of available knowledge will result in a higher impact of development activities. Right now much knowledge remains underutilized. Actors often work in pillarized demarcated ways without building on existing knowledge nor connecting with similar and complementary initiatives or other relevant actors.  Many knowledge holders are not even being heard. This leads to actors continuing to work insufficiently effective despite available evidence and experience, and missing relevant insights that interact with their activities. Wheels are being reinvented, parallel or counter acting initiatives undertaken, potential trade -offs and synergies overlooked.

To break this cycle, The Broker acts as a neutral, yet innovative non-usual convener of knowledge between a wide range of different stakeholders, ensuring that development processes are based on balanced insights. We do so by connecting expertise and academic knowledge with stakeholders’ needs. We make complex issues accessible and actionable and apply a broad perspective to make development processes inclusive and holistic. We are a frontrunner in strengthening evidence-based practices, co-creation of knowledge, and helping partners to increase their development impact. 

In 2007, The Broker started as a magazine that gave (mainly academic) knowledge experts the opportunity to publish for a wider practical and policy audience. The magazine turned into an online platform where we developed dossiers around sub topics in international inclusive development such as Inequality, Employment, and Human security. We more and more started to include stakeholders in our knowledge work. When the Dutch Knowledge Platforms for Development Cooperation were established in order to gather all stakeholders around the main themes to make their work more knowledge based, we became the main partner in various of the secretariats some 10 years ago. Today we still operate in two of these Platforms INCLUDE and Netherlands Food Partnership while besides we operate for various actors in the field of global development from academics to private actors, preferably in partnerships.

Services we deliver range from mappings, overviews, Community of Practice facilitation, policy analysis and recommendations, synthesis and discussion papers, toolboxes, video’s, infographics, guidelines knowledge consultations, expert meetings. Often we offer a package of these services in broader knowledge trajectories. 

We always work towards practical application of knowledge in order to improve practices on the ground. We strive to include as many perspectives as possible in our work from diverse backgrounds. To this end we also more and more include end users throughout our knowledge trajectories from agenda setting, execution to implementation.