Once you’ve nailed down your theory of change, strategy, budget, and workplan and gained support from the key actors for your project, you’ll need to immerse yourself in the context of the problem you’re working to solve. Work with the country focal point to identify and learn about the people who are positioned to engage with and use the data, including local advocates, journalists, policy-makers and decision-makers, and who can help you understand the local context.
It will be helpful to organize these insights by the spheres in which you can work to drive change. Most successful efforts work in some combination of six spheres of influence through which it is possible to affect behavior, opinions, and decisions. Deciding which of these spaces to work in is a critical strategic decision and must be linked to a carefully considered theory of change.
