We are delighted to present an exclusive interview with Angela Zamaere Smtih the interim CEO of All We Can, in this edition of DevelopmentAid’s “Hero Stories”. Angela’s remarkable career in international development, which spans almost three decades, is rooted in her belief that true progress comes from empowering communities to lead their own development.
Since joining All We Can in 2014, Angela has been instrumental in advancing the organization’s partnership approach, emphasizing locally-led development and the decolonization of aid. Join us as Angela shares her inspiring journey, insights, and her vision for a transformative international development sector.
DevelopmentAid: What sparked your initial interest in international development, and how did your early work in Malawi influence your career trajectory?
Angela Zamaere Smith: I’ve actually been involved in development work since 1995, starting locally before moving into the international arena. My very first introduction to this field came straight after graduating university when I volunteered with Women’s World Banking, the Malawi chapter. This organization empowers women through microloans. Being part of the team that visited communities, met with women, understood their challenges, and helped them to identify their skills and business ideas was incredibly rewarding. Within a few months, these women were not only buying new clothes for themselves but also sending their children to school. They were brighter, more vocal, and more confident, actively involved in their households and communities.
Following my time at Women’s World Banking, I remained in the sector, transitioning from volunteer work to a permanent position with a local NGO. From there, I moved on to work with the umbrella organization for NGOs in Malawi (Council for NGOs in Malawi – CONGOMA), before finally entering the international development space. This is how I truly began my journey in this field.
DevelopmentAid: Building on that experience, can you share a few specific examples from your early career with Women’s World Banking or other organizations that cemented your commitment to international development?
Angela Zamaere Smith: Seeing individuals empowered to achieve things they previously couldn’t, and the newfound confidence within communities, were truly inspiring. My first paid job was with a local organization. Unlike some development approaches, we prioritized building genuine relationships with each community. This meant spending two dedicated weeks, living with them in their community, simply getting to know the people, their challenges, their traditional practices, and showing respect for the community and their way of life. For example, we wouldn’t schedule meetings at inconvenient times that disrupted their daily routines, like farming activities in the mornings.
We facilitated participatory rural appraisals, empowering communities to analyze their own needs and challenges as well as their resources and capacities. This included physical structures, natural resources like rivers and trees, economic, human, and their social capital. They compared the challenges faced by women, and men, older people, and youth, and prioritized their issues fostering a sense of ownership as they identified solutions themselves. They would then identify what issues they could tackle themselves and what they needed support from NGOs like ours, local government and so far.
Often, they simply needed additional support for challenges beyond their immediate capacity. This experience instilled in me the core belief that successful development is driven by the community, not by outsiders imposing solutions.
DevelopmentAid: In your day-to-day work, how do you approach helping communities consider and prepare for these broader challenges and priorities alongside their more immediate needs?
Angela Zamaere Smith: Communities are on the frontline of these challenges. Our role, as facilitators, is to equip them with tools for self-analysis. For example, we might ask farmers to reflect on changes in their practices over the past decade. They’ll readily acknowledge a shift in climate patterns, with rainfall becoming increasingly erratic. This lived experience becomes the foundation for further analysis. We can then introduce information about climate change, like the impact of carbon emissions and global warming. While they may not know the scientific terminology, they already understand how these changes affect their lives – the unpredictable rainfall, and the impact on crops.
DevelopmentAid: When you joined All We Can, what were your primary goals, and how have they evolved over time?
Angela Zamaere Smith: Joining All We Can, what really excited me was the focus on rethinking international development. They weren’t just going through the motions of a rebrand; they were actively looking at how to make a real difference by charting a different path in the sector. This resonated with my own experiences. In my early development work, I saw a stark contrast between the hopes of communities and the realities of traditional aid. We’d spend weeks collaborating with a community to identify their most pressing needs. They were ready to tackle them head-on, forming committees and prioritizing solutions. But returning to the organization with their well-defined plan, I faced a crushing realization – funding wasn’t available for their priorities, but rather the priorities of our donors. This disconnect, prioritizing pre-determined goals over their needs, left me disheartened. It highlighted the limitations of traditional aid structures. This reality eroded confidence in us being able to actually make a difference in a way that didn’t undermine the existing capacity.
Empowering local partners and communities became my primary goal. In my previous role, I witnessed restrictive funding hindering responsiveness to community needs. At All We Can, I envisioned a shift – providing flexible, unrestricted funding to local partners to enable them to be more responsive to community priorities. At All We Can, we recognized the limitations of project-based aid. Instead, we sought to build long-term partnerships with local organizations. We envisioned a collaborative approach, supporting them to develop their own strategies driven by community needs while committing to a 10-15-year partnership timeframe. Development takes a long time, and we walk alongside them, as an external partner, to facilitate, enhance capacity, and support as needed.
We emphasized respect for local ownership. Local organizations understand the context and communities far better than any external partner. Our goal was to empower them to meet their communities where they are, forging a path together towards a brighter future of thriving and flourishing communities.
DevelopmentAid: From your perspective, working in international development, what are the biggest challenges you see in terms of achieving impactful and sustainable change?
Angela Zamaere Smith: There’s a growing recognition in international development that the aid system is broken. Traditionally, it’s been a very top-down approach. Back donors, with their own development agendas and priorities, funnel money through international NGOs. These NGOs, in turn, have their own expectations attached to the funding. This creates a cascade effect, where local partners end up delivering programs based on priorities three levels removed from the actual communities they’re supposed to serve.
This top-down approach creates a lot of compliance burdens. Success is often defined by the donor, not by the needs of the community. Proposals have to be written in a specific way, often in English, which can be a major barrier for local organizations. There’s a huge disconnect between where the money for development comes from and where it actually lands – with the communities who need it most.
To achieve true and sustainable development, we need a system that is built on trust. Donors and NGOs need to recognize the colonial legacy that is embedded in traditional approaches. We also need to address subconscious biases – sometimes, we assume someone with a fancy degree in international development understands poverty solutions better than someone living in the reality they want to improve.
It’s about empowering local actors and communities to own and drive their own development journey. Think about it – if traditional methods were truly effective, wouldn’t we have solved poverty by now? The fact that we’re still grappling with these issues tells us something is fundamentally broken. My experience shows that when low-income countries can lead their own development, with trusted partnerships and flexible funding, they take ownership and create solutions that are more sustainable for the long term.
DevelopmentAid: How has the Shift the Power movement influenced your work, and what changes do you hope to see in the sector?
Angela Zamaere Smith: The Shift the Power movement highlighted the limitations of traditional aid, where power resided with international donors dictating priorities and defining what development is. Finally, organizations in low-income countries are demanding the re-balancing of power after all, they are the ones implementing the programmes and they are the experts in their own context. The status quo must change. This movement inspired me to advocate for a more equitable system. At All We Can, we have been ahead of the curve as we embraced this by building long-term partnerships with local organizations, providing flexible and unrestricted funding from 2015. We support our local counterparts in developing their own strategies and support them to become resilient organizations that will continue to make strides in community development long after external NGOs leave.
The changes I hope to see in the sector are a move away from project-based funding and a shift towards flexible, long-term support for local actors. This would allow them to prioritize and implement programs that are based on the self-identified needs of their communities. Ultimately, I envision a future where local communities are empowered to drive their own development with international organizations acting as supportive partners, catalysts, and critical friends.
DevelopmentAid: How do you envision the role of diaspora organizations in fostering development both locally and globally?
Angela Zamaere Smith: The role of diaspora communities in international development is often underestimated. One in nine people around the world relies on financial support being sent by family or friends living in other countries, often referred to as remittances. Just to illustrate the scale, in 2022, the UK diaspora alone sent a whopping £10.1 billion back to their home countries – that’s more than the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spent on ODA that year. This money bypasses bureaucracy and goes directly to families who need it most for basic necessities like food, housing, and education.
Beyond my work at All We Can, I’m passionate about working with diaspora organizations, particularly here in the UK for my home country of Malawi. Many of us witness a significant amount of direct financial support flowing back to Malawi that goes unrecognized by traditional development metrics. This support is crucial because it fills gaps, especially when governments struggle to meet the needs of their citizens or when foreign aid can be entangled with political agendas.
Diaspora communities have a unique understanding of the needs in their home countries because they often have close ties to those communities. Their support is direct and personal, whether it’s helping a family put food on the table, contributing to building a new home, or ensuring a child can attend school.
DevelopmentAid: What are your hopes for the future of international development, and what innovations or approaches do you believe will be crucial?
Angela Zamaere Smith: The international NGO sector needs a fundamental shift in its approach to development. While it plays a valuable role, the traditional model of development aid often undermines local ownership and sustainability. True innovation lies in forging new partnerships with local organizations, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach. The biggest challenges? Sometimes, international NGOs cling to established practices, prioritizing their own continued involvement over maximizing impact – self-preservation becomes the focus. It would be preferable for some international organizations to close and celebrate their impacts of the past if they cannot embrace the imperatives of doing development differently.
For instance, some organizations focus solely on building the capacity of local partners. This empowers local actors to manage their own development journey and secure funding directly from donors, even if it means the international NGO phases itself out.
Another key innovation is ensuring local voices are heard in decision-making spaces and local organizations are recognized for the critical role they play in development. Some large international NGOs with country offices may directly implement programs. However, the majority of INGOs rely on local partners to implement development programmes, but these are often overlooked in communications in public fundraising efforts. We need transparency – INGOs work through local actors who are the true drivers of development on the ground.
Building resilience in local partners is vital for long-term success. International NGOs may have a presence for a decade or two but eventually exit due to funding limitations or shifting priorities. Local actors remain the constant, continuing to deliver development long after an international NGO has gone.
DevelopmentAid: What advice would you offer to individuals looking to make a meaningful impact in international development?
Angela Zamaere Smith: My advice to aspiring international development professionals? Come into the sector with a questioning spirit. What does true sustainable development look like? How can we achieve it? Ask questions, challenge assumptions, and actively seek out alternative perspectives on development. Where possible live alongside the people you hope to serve, even if its for a few days. Developing a genuine appreciation for their experiences and challenges will be invaluable. This understanding will shape your approach and ensure you don’t perpetuate the mistakes of the past. Advocate for a shift in power dynamics, from top-down to collaborative partnerships. True progress comes when local communities are empowered to drive their own development journey.
