The Development Practitioners Forum

Created in January 2009, The Development Practitioners Forum is a nonprofit organization specifically designed by and for practitioners working at field sites in developing countries."Practitioners" are a large, diverse group which spans different cultures, languages, disciplines, geographic regions, and types of organizations. Developing country men and women with invaluable real-world development experience are the fastest growing segment of the practitioner population. These emerging and established development leaders include project managers, senior technical advisors, opinion makers, donor agency staff members, and public servants. To succeed, they need to access the resources of a Development 2.0 community, which stimulates the free exchange of practical, field-relevant knowledge on a real-time basis. Many well-intentioned programs fall short by constantly reinventing the wheel, leaving good ideas undocumented when a project ends, and overlooking opportunities to collaborate with partners who have complementary development goals. The Forum aims to break this pattern by building an inclusive, genuinely global practitioner community where Real Development Knowledge at Your Fingertips is a powerful driver of change and improved development performance.