How to Collect the Feedback Needed to Activate Thousands of People
To activate people and build momentum for a cause, you must first do your research. The best Activators know they need to talk with a lot of people to understand the ‘ecosystem’ they're operating in, and how to translate that feedback into actionable strategies. Only after going through this initial phase of deeply understanding who you'll be working with, can you create a plan to rally people around a future vision.
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A Look at Two Leaders Approaches
Francesca de Quesada Covey
is a seasoned technology executive with over 15 years of experience in fostering innovation and economic growth to address pressing social and economic challenges. She currently serves as the Chief Innovation and Economic Development Officer for Miami-Dade County, reporting directly to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
How Francesca “Cesi” de Quesada Covey collects feedback and foundational insights at the intersection of government, innovation, and impact.
You work on complex, collaborative initiatives that involve various people and organizations to be successful. What is your approach, and do you follow any frameworks, methodologies, etc?
When leading initiatives with diverse stakeholders—local governments, private organizations, and community groups—my approach begins by fostering a shared vision from the outset. This involves early and intentional engagement, establishing clear and open communication channels, and setting mutually aligned goals that resonate with each party. Central to this approach is process transparency and ensuring that every stakeholder feels genuinely empowered and integral to the project’s success. Effective leadership is essential, especially in modeling collaborative behavior and building trust. This means not only providing strategic direction but also facilitating an environment where input from all stakeholders is actively sought, valued, and integrated to create clarity of purpose and outcome.
What software or tools do you use to collect foundational insights for high-impact projects?
Given the wide range of organizations we collaborate with, our approach to gathering foundational insights for high-impact projects remains intentionally relationship-driven. We rely heavily on in-person meetings, roundtables, and even phone calls to build trust and capture nuanced insights that digital tools often miss. Once we've gathered these insights, we leverage a mix of project management software and maintain active information sharing through weekly Zoom meetings and email. This combination of personal engagement and digital tools ensures both the quality of our insights and the efficiency of our project coordination
When it comes to ecosystem mapping and analysis, such as identifying key players and organizations, and strategizing your approach to engagement with them, what do you advise? What has worked and doesn't work?
When mapping an ecosystem, identifying key players and organizations is more of an art than a science. The best advice I can offer is to focus on relationships first, data second. Engaging early with stakeholders—through interviews, surveys, or public forums—helps reveal informal power structures and influencers that tools alone might not identify. In my experience, what works is maintaining continuous engagement—listening to feedback, aligning incentives, and fostering trust among stakeholders. What doesn't work is making assumptions about who holds influence or overlooking smaller, perhaps less prominent organizations that often have more on-the-ground expertise or community trust.
Can you provide an example of a specific project where something you uncovered (or didn't) in the initial foundational insights part, hurt or harmed the project?
When engaging the business community on climate initiatives, our approach focuses on understanding the decades of work they've contributed to building the industry, especially over the past 30 years. In many cases, we were able to identify common goals between the public and private sectors that neither realized they were already working toward. By facilitating this alignment, we helped bridge gaps and foster partnerships, creating synergies that accelerate climate techjnology initiatives. These collaborations are grounded in mutual interests and leverage the complementary strengths of both sectors, driving more impactful results for regional climate resilience.
Hetal Ganatra
is the International Director of Development for the G20 CORDAP, a Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform launched in 2020 by the G20 to fast-track research and development solutions to save our coral reefs and secure a future for these key marine habitats.
How Hetal Ganatra collects feedback and foundational insights required for international impact.
You work on complex, collaborative initiatives that involve various people and organizations to be successful. What is your approach, and do you follow any frameworks, methodologies, etc?
Rooted in fostering innovation, scalability, and inclusivity to address a critical global issue, we leverage a highly collaborative framework that engages key stakeholders from diverse sectors—governments, research institutions, NGOs, and private partners. The plight is highly compelling. This ensures that the solutions we develop are broadly applicable and effectively address root causes. We are uniquely positioned to facilitate these initiatives because of our international mandate, and our strategy is centred on delivering tangible, high-impact outcomes through partnerships and collaborative leadership. Our approach brings collaborators together, acknowledging that the challenges we face cannot be solved in isolation. By grounding our justifications in a robust evidence base, we showcase the systemic changes achievable through collective action. Our process ensures that all voices are heard and that the outcomes of collaboration are mutually beneficial, promoting solutions that are practical, scalable, and globally impactful.
What software or tools do you use to collect foundational insights for high-impact projects?
We use frameworks such as the Theory of Change, technological roadmaps, and adaptive management to gather insights and collaboratively address challenges through scoping studies, workshops, and stakeholder engagement. Our Expert Advisory Committee, part of our governance structure, plays a key role in this process, alongside expert reviewers and partners from collaborating organizations. Additionally, our participation in key global forums strengthens our diverse networks and intelligence, enriching the insights we collect. Scientists and researchers from around the world who engage with us also contribute valuable perspectives that help shape and guide our high-impact projects.
When it comes to ecosystem mapping and analysis, such as identifying key players and organizations, and strategizing your approach to engagement with them, what do you advise? What has worked and doesn't work?
A structured and strategic approach is essential for identifying key players and developing effective engagement strategies.
Start by scoping and researching to determine which key players and organizations align closely with your mission and can act as complementary partners, both parties mutually adding value in various ways. This helps you prioritize the most relevant stakeholders.
Categorize organizations and individuals into groups such as complementary and strategic organizations that add credibility and value, decision-makers, influencers, implementers, and beneficiaries. This allows you to tailor engagement strategies based on their specific roles and levels of influence.
Building relationships early, before you need something, is crucial. We've found that engaging through informal conversations or by attending relevant events fosters trust and helps create a shared vision. In our case, we’ve occasionally leveraged political and diplomatic influence, supported by our G20 mandate, to open doors and strengthen partnerships. However, the focus is always on mutual value creation, ensuring that engagements are collaborative, not purely transactional.
It's important not to attempt engaging everyone at once, and to prioritize key stakeholders first.
Remember that one size does not fit all, tailor your approach based on the unique interests and motivations of each stakeholder where possible. Although noting that in some situations you may need to engage multiple stakeholders at one, in which case preparing effectively in advance is key.
Can you provide an example of a specific project where something you uncovered (or didn't) in the initial foundational insights part, hurt or harmed the project?
One potential pitfall is failing to map out partners effectively and, not conveying expectations clearly from the start. Building strong relationships early on, well before you need anything from them, is critical. However, rushing to formalize these relationships through MOUs or LOIs too soon can sometimes backfire. Celebrating these agreements prematurely, before fully understanding and agreeing mutual expectations, can lead to stagnation. The partnership may lose momentum, turning what could have been a productive relationship into something more superficial, a “nice to have” rather than a strategic asset.