Feedback Labs

Feedback Labs (FBL) is a new consortium of leading policy, technology, advocacy, funding, and implementation organizations dedicated to democratizing philanthropy, aid, and ultimately governance.  The Labs is located in Washington, DC, but has members all over the US and the world.  FBL seeks to create a new culture in these sectors that puts three questions front and center:

• What do regular people want to make their lives better?
• Are we helping them get it?
• If not, what will we do differently?

Labs members believe that feedback loops from citizens (called beneficiaries or constituents by some members) is the right thing to do and under the right conditions can often be the smart thing to do (i.e., increase impact compared to purely top-down systems). Advancing responsive and responsible feedback loops depends on political will and resources as much as it depends on technical systems that support the flow of information.  Finding and enabling this combination across sectors and institutions is extremely challenging and varied.  To advance theory and practice, FBL supports activities in a) Framing; b) Convening; and c) Mainstreaming.