In the social impact world, project managers are navigating several challenges: tighter budgets, smaller teams, shifting donor priorities, and organizations that are forced to focus on survival before innovation. The sector is changing, and so are the realities of project management. Amid these pressures, it’s easy to lose sight of what brought many of us here: creating meaningful, lasting change with communities, not for them.
The truth is, project management in the NGO sector has never been more complex, or more critical. We’re expected to be adaptive, resourceful, and deeply collaborative, often balancing competing demands between funders, teams, and the very communities we aim to work with. But in this complexity lies a unique opportunity: the power to reshape how development work is done.
The influence project managers hold runs deep. We decide how projects are structured, how information flows, and who gets a seat at the table. We are facilitators of collaboration. Our role is to help teams see the gaps of understanding, navigate power dynamics, and make decisions that are fair, transparent, and grounded in local realities.
That’s where Decolonizing Project Design: A Complete Guide for Equitable and Inclusive Practice comes in. This ebook helps project managers move beyond critique to action, offering practical tools, frameworks, and 28 editable templates and worksheets that guide you through every step of equitable project design.
Across the NGO and development sector, conversations about
decolonizing aid and equitable project design are growing louder, but many practitioners still ask:
What does that actually look like in practice?
This guide provides the answer. It helps project managers learn how to:
Align donor priorities with community needs without losing local ownership. Facilitate co-design processes that center community knowledge and leadership.
Build feedback loops that close the gap between data collection and accountability.
Manage adaptive projects that stay true to their mission, even under pressure.
Traditional project management frameworks rarely teach us how to navigate unequal partnerships, or how to co-design with communities who have seen countless “consultations” that led nowhere. They don’t show us how to balance accountability to donors with accountability to people.
This ebook is your roadmap for doing exactly that.
And remember, you don’t have to be an expert in every topic your project touches. What you do need is the ability to guide teams toward equitable collaboration to spot power imbalances, to ask better questions, and to offer better ways forward.
The
Decolonizing Project Design ebook is more than a resource, it’s a
complete toolkit designed for real-world use. You’ll get:
Guidance to redesign your project frameworks with equity at the core.
28 customizable worksheets and templates you can use directly in your projects.
Reflection prompts to help you connect concepts with your daily work.
Practical strategies for navigating donor requirements and internal constraints.
Whether you’re leading a small pilot or managing a multi-country initiative, this guide helps you bridge ideals with implementation and reimagine what effective, inclusive project management can look like.
The sector is at a crossroads. As organizations struggle with funding cuts and shifting priorities, it’s easy to lose sight of what brought us here: the belief that development should expand agency, not extract it. This is precisely when project managers can become catalysts for transformation.
Equitable project design is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s the foundation for projects that last, partnerships that thrive, and outcomes that truly belong to the communities they serve.
By rethinking your approach now, you’re not just adapting to change — you’re leading it.
Ready to transform how you design and manage projects?
Get your copy of
Decolonizing Project Design today — and start leading from a place of collaboration, equity, and purpose.
The views expressed here are those of Beyond Social Science and do not represent the views of the author’s affiliations. 
