Driving Outcomes at Scale: The Government Empowerment Network

GEN is a globally networked, AI-enabled reform accelerator designed to unlock the most powerful lever for lasting, at-scale impact: the public servants inside governments. Governments manage trillions in public funds and are responsible for the health and well-being of billions, and after years of working on government reform we kept arriving at the same conclusion — for change to be sustained, the people inside government need to be the ones driving it from the start. That conviction led us to launch GEN in July 2025, with support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Schmidt Futures. GEN was itself shaped by input from more than 100 government leaders who named the gaps they were navigating.

GEN represents a fundamentally different approach to public sector reform. Rather than prescribing interventions or ‘best practices,’ GEN is solutions-agnostic and focused instead on equipping government leaders to tackle the issues most meaningful to them and their communities. Through a structured six-month reform incubator complemented by an AI-powered digital Empowerment Lab, GEN provides champions with diagnostic tools, leadership development, peer learning, and expert support. Champions are supported as they:

• Select real challenges tied to government priorities;
• Diagnose root causes, not just symptoms;
• Assess reform pathways that have the highest potential return for policy outcomes;
• Design solutions grounded in data, evidence, and political feasibility;
• Build coalitions and secure senior sponsorship; and,
• Graduate with reform agendas in-hand, that can be carried forward into budgets, plans, policies, or other coordination mechanisms.

The goal of GEN is dual: to produce actionable reforms, and to build the leadership capabilities and cross-institutional networks that allow governments to sustain reform momentum long after any single incubator ends. By bringing together mid- and senior-level public servants across multiple ministries, GEN creates trusted spaces for problem-solving, peer exchange, and joint reform efforts. This addresses a critical gap in traditional capacity-building programs, which often focus on individual skill development without building the relationships, incentives, and shared accountability necessary for systemic change. 

Uganda’s inaugural cohort launched in July 2025 with 34 champions from six ministries including the Ministries of Public Service, Finance, Gender, Education, Water and the Office of the Prime Minister. GEN has continued to grow; the network launched in Latin America with 33 champions from Colombia and Ecuador, expanded with its inaugural Morocco cohort, and expansion to new countries is currently in process. From the start, the model has demonstrated potential with promising early results.

Champions have begun tackling the kinds of foundational bottlenecks that determine whether public systems can deliver at scale — from weak coordination and fragmented data to limited accountability, broken incentives, and execution gaps across sectors such as education, water, and public financial management. The cross-ministry design enables many to step beyond formal mandates and tackle constraints that no single institution could address alone. GEN-backed solutions are moving from reform ideas into the government machinery that matters: ministry plans, senior leadership discussions, budget processes, and coordination mechanisms that can sustain implementation beyond the incubator.

The model has been elevated to national decision-making platforms, and multiple ministries have requested to join future cohorts, signaling expanding ownership and system-wide demand. Partners, including major donors, view GEN as a credible, locally-led approach aligned with their governance and institutional strengthening priorities.

GEN’s theory of impact is grounded in the recognition that sustainable public sector transformation takes time—and that it starts with people. GEN focuses on shifting mindsets, strengthening leadership and delivery capabilities, and embedding reforms into government systems through budgets, policies, and coordination mechanisms. Equally central is the creation of a global peer community: champions learn not only from experts, but from one another—across ministries and across countries—reinforcing confidence, accountability, and shared ambition. As Uganda’s experience illustrates, when government champions are trusted, connected, and supported to lead, they can drive locally owned transformation more effectively and durably than externally imposed approaches. With the engagement of new partners like LGT Venture Philanthropy and Grand Challenges Canada, GEN is positioning itself as a scalable, government-led platform for nurturing the next generation of reform leaders worldwide.