OUTSIDE IN

Gerard Mc Hugh is a serial impact entrepreneur, peacebuilder, humanitarian, and optimist! 

Shaped by experiences growing up in his native Ireland and working in Iraq during 1989/90, Gerry has devoted the past 30+ years to helping people realize their full potential, focusing on addressing exclusion and inequality, helping people transform their own lives.

[Image: Origins, Baghdad, 1990]

To realize that goal, Gerry has founded two ventures. Conflict Dynamics International is an independent not-for-profit organization with a 16-year track record of successfully working to prevent and resolve conflict and to alleviate human suffering. AidX is a new venture developing financial products to support systems of mutual aid (‘people helping people’).

Gerry is a political scientist (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), engineer (Trinity College Dublin; MIT), who also has qualifications in mathematics and nursing. He is an avid swimmer and aspiring writer, who continues to be inspired by people’s dignity and resilience.

My work focuses on addressing exclusion from political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities and supporting people to transform their lives, to help each other and thrive. 

The Problem: When people are excluded from political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities, it causes strife in society which invites conflict. The problem is exclusion, from systems of governance, from political discourse and, as one specific dimension, from access to financial services. 

The Project: My  work helps people escape exclusion. My project will: (1) scale usage of already-developed, proven methods to address exclusion from political opportunities; and (2) scale use of a mobile app to facilitate financial pooling for greater financial inclusion.

How this project can elevate humanity: This project will help people transform their own lives and elevate themselves by being able to create and take advantage of political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities. It will prevent conflict and help people realize their potential. 

The specific problem I am working to solve is exclusion of people in many countries worldwide from two specific opportunities: 

1. exclusion from opportunities for political participation; and
2. exclusion from economic opportunities through limited access to financial services.

Exclusion from political participation drives conflict: Exclusion is a key driver of conflict, which is increasing globally. Of 52 armed conflicts ongoing in 2018, ‘government’ was identified as the main incompatibility in half. According to the ICRC, two billion people worldwide are affected by fragility, conflict, or violence.

Through Conflict Dynamics I am leading work to address the specific factor of exclusion from governance arrangements and dialogue, including in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria.  

Exclusion from financial services limits opportunities and keeps people in poverty: In 2017, approximately 1.7 billion globally did not have access to a bank account or mobile money account; yet 1.1 billion of the so-called ‘unbanked’ have a mobile phone. The UN has emphasized the importance of access to financial services as a means of alleviating poverty and realizing the SDGs. 

Through AidX I am working to launch mobile apps which people can use to pool their financial resources and better access financial services. 

My project – OUTSIDE IN – is a body of ongoing work which supports people in getting ‘in’ to political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities. It is focused on addressing exclusion.

It does this in two way: (1) by supporting people and their leaders to design and implement arrangements for governance and dialogue, and (2) by providing people with tools for better access to financial services.

I am leading work with Conflict Dynamics which supports people to reconcile their different interests; their disagreements. This ongoing work supports use of an innovative and proven conflict resolution method, the Political Accommodation Method. This method helps people design and implement arrangements for how they govern themselves and for how they consult together. This includes for example, design of federal systems (Somalia), electoral systems (Sudan) and national dialogue processes (Sudan, Somalia).

Through AidX, my business partner Tarig Hilal and I are providing people with mobile applications which they can use to pool together their financial resources, and access person-to-person loans and savings. We are just launching our first product, Moja in the Kenyan market. Moja is a smartphone app which enables people to send, receive and pool money across distance, safely and securely. 

In general the people I am working with are people who find themselves excluded from political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities. They are mostly people with low income, often living in situations of conflict or crisis, of all ages (emphasis on youth). 

My work has reached a tipping point. 

The audience at scale includes:  

• People worldwide who are affected by exclusion and conflict, including by the 52 ongoing armed conflicts, estimated at 2 billion persons. 
• People worldwide who are living on less than US$ 1.90 per day (> 700 million) and who have very limited access to financial services. Of the 1.7 billion persons ‘unbanked’ worldwide, one quarter live in the poorest 20 percent of households. 

Up to now, my work to address exclusion from political opportunities has been supporting people in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria. It has positively impacted their lives by contributing to ending conflicts. This work has evolved through years of direct consultation with the people affected. 

AidX has developed a mobile app for financial pooling, called Moja, using human-centered design methods. Kenyan and Somali users were engaged from the earliest stages. This product is helping people by providing better access to financial services and resilience. 

This project enables people to elevate themselves, by helping people create- and take advantage of political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities, their way. It is directly related to ‘Elevating opportunities for all people.” It elevates women who are often disproportionally excluded. 

Relationship to other dimensions: 

• Elevating issues and their projects … : Exclusion and the inequality it causes are driving conflicts globally; that is why the issue of exclusion needs to be further elevated.
• Elevating understanding of and between people … : This work is about changing people’s attitudes and behaviors towards more equitable inclusion, in governance, public discourse, and financially.   

While working in Iraq during 1989/1990 I saw firsthand the effects of the Iran-Iraq war and campaigns against the Kurds. I was working in a hospital in Baghdad, and thought, “There has to be a better way … " to preventing conflict and helping people. 

Over the past 3 decades, I have been seeking out the most impactful ways to address conflict, to help people ‘pull themselves up’ and avail of opportunities. 

The journey has taken me from Ireland, to my adopted home of the United States, and to work in Sudan, Kenya, Afghanistan and other countries experiencing exclusion. In 2004 I founded Conflict Dynamics to prevent and resolve conflict, focusing on addressing exclusion. We now have 20 passionate colleagues in 3 offices worldwide.

The ideas for how to address exclusion germinated from listening to people at all points along the way (curiosity helps!).

[Image: Listening, Darfur]

I also came to see the power of people to help each other; this is ‘mutual aid.’ The ‘Aha’ moment for that was July 2014. I have been building the AidX venture with my Co-Founder, Tarig Hilal. Learning from Kenyans and Somalis, we decided to support people with products for better financial resilience.

“None can usurp the heights … but those to whom the miseries of the world are misery, and will not let them rest.” [John Keats]

I love this quote, because it captures my outlook and why I feel so passionate about preventing and resolving conflict, and helping people transform their own lives. 

My own extended family was affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland, and I can say that my time in Iraq as a young man had a very formative effect. Looking after people in an Intensive care Unit in Baghdad, I saw the injustice of conflict, and at the same time opportunities to do good. 

Later, travelling throughout Darfur, Sudan, I experienced the amazing hospitality of people, in extreme conditions, willing to share the little they had. It reinforced for me the human potential and how people can help each other. 

I have seen enough conflict and people struggling to know that these continue to be a misery to me … and I refuse to let them rest!

Lastly, I am also very passionate about this work because addressing exclusion is going to be all the more essential in light of the consequences of climate change. 

Along my journey, I have learned that while skills and qualifications can be essential tools to solve any problem, they are only part of what is needed. I have ‘stacked my briefcase’ with 5 academic and professional qualifications and know I will never be finished learning. 

However, critically important ingredients for me are persistence and hard work (and some luck). 

In light of this, here are some of the reasons why I believe I am well-positioned to successfully deliver this project.

1. I know the problem intimately and I know the people who can benefit: I have lived and studied exclusion, and have lived among the people my solutions can benefit.
2. I have a track record of achieving what I set out to do: I started Conflict Dynamics from scratch in 2004 and have built it into a respected international organization which has demonstrated results in addressing exclusion. 
3. I have innovated to generate solutions that can achieve better results: I and Conflict Dynamics have developed ground-breaking methods and approaches that are now being used globally on a range of issues. I am the lead creator of the Political Accommodation Methodology. 
4. I know that to achieve scale you need an excellent Team and partnerships: With my work at a tipping point and poised for greater impact, I know I need partnerships to reach scale. 
5. I am not willing to give up: This goes back to persistence and hard work; I have the energy, passion and ambition to solve the problem.

For 12 of the 16 years I have been leading Conflict Dynamics, we have had an active program to support people and their representatives in Sudan in developing more inclusive arrangements. 

Working to address exclusion, especially in very sensitive political contexts, clearly can meet with opposition from those who do not wish to have more including; those who wish to exclude. 

Under the previous regime of Omar Al-Bashir in Sudan (which changed in April 2019), I and Conflict Dynamics colleagues had several difficult encounters with the national security services, who were suspicious about our work and did not want organizations working with civil society and others on issues of governance and dialogue. On several occasions, I or colleagues were ‘invited’ to interviews with the national security and intelligence services. 

Because we had insisted on a neutral, impartial and transparent approach to our work we could share our work and engage these security services. Over time, through persistence and careful relationship building with influential political actors, we managed to turn this challenge into a unique opportunity: to engage the security services on very sensitive issues. This enables us to work more freely and to engage senior levels of government. 

To me an important aspect of leadership is persuading and guiding others to do what they may not want to do; to take the more difficult path when that is necessary. Anyone can follow the crowd when they want to take the easy path.

Two examples that come to mind that show aspects of leadership: 

During 2005 – 2007 I had the honor to lead several mandates of the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on the Sudan, starting with the inaugural Panel in 2005. During that very sensitive time the Panel faced pressures from two sides: from parties to the conflict in the Sudan in conducting work on the ground; and from some States that wished to frustrate the work of the Panel. A particularly sensitive time was around the publication of the Panel’s reports. At that time I led the Panel to successfully resist and overcome political pressures to influence the findings.

During 2019 Conflict Dynamics faced what I saw as unacceptable constraints from a partner (donor) government that I believed would have impinged on Conflict Dynamics’ impartial and neutral working principles. The grant was ultimately cancelled, but I ensured Conflict Dynamics did not waiver from its principles.

I founded and conduct my work through 2 ventures:

• Conflict Dynamics International is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• AidX Inc. is a for-profit C Corporation formed in Delaware. 

My work to address exclusion from political participation and opportunities is based around the Political Accommodation (PA) Methodology. This innovative method has several unique value propositions that combine to provide better results when designing and implementing systems of governance and dialogue that can address exclusion. 

The method is unique because it:

• Focuses on people’s political interests, and how to reconcile them
• Practically supports national capacities: Enables people to fully develop their own options for governance and dialogue, rather than imposing prescriptions from outside
• Helps people build consensus through common methods and shared options … including across constituencies 
• Seeks to accommodate interests across multiple areas of governance and not just one (such as elections)
• Addresses exclusion by focusing on the mechanics of inclusion
• Values and reflects in practical arrangements the diversity of society

To address exclusion from financial services AidX has developed Moja (www.mojapay.io) a mobile app which enables people to send, receive and pool their money across distance, safely and securely. This is a unique solution because it facilitates financial pooling across borders and also will enable customers to build a social ‘credit’ rating with the app without having an institutionally-provided ID. This will significantly increase the access to financial services, particularly among persons with lower income.

The Theory of Change developed for Conflict Dynamics' work to address exclusion from political opportunities is:

The Theory of Change underlying AidX's work to develop a smartphone app for improved financial pooling and resilience in the beachhead market of Kenya is:

Conflict Dynamics has recent or ongoing work in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria to support people in accommodating their political interests to address exclusion: 

• NOW: Directly engaged ~ 5,000 influencers; Total people who will benefit – 84 million 
• 1 YEAR: [through expansion to 1 new context] Directly engaged ~ 6,000 influencers; Total people who will benefit – 104 million 
• 5 YEARS: [through partnerships and scaling to new contexts] Directly and indirectly engaged ~ 20,000 influencers; Total people who will benefit – 500 million

Addressing exclusion from access to financial services: The customers of Moja will be directly served by the product:

• NOW: Recently launched private beta product with 4 pools (~ 40 users) 
• 1 YEAR: 25,000 customers in Kenya by Q3 2021 
• 5 YEARS: 12 million customers in Kenya and 6 other countries by end 2025 

Over the next 3.5 years I plan to oversee implantation of a new Strategic Plan for Conflict Dynamics, which has the following 4 strategic goals (to end 2023):

1. Develop and expand support in use of innovative approaches to prevent and resolve conflict (by addressing exclusion).
2. Propel systems of mutual aid and innovate new approaches and methods to protect people in crisis.
3. Strengthen organizational capacity and governance to anticipate growing program needs.
4. Increase our organizational resources with a focus on core needs.

In July 2019 Conflict Dynamics engaged an experienced Chief Operating Officer (COO) and in Fall 2020 will induct the first new members of the Board of Directors as part of an effort to evolve the governance structures of the organization. The organization seeks to grow its impact through pursuit of these goals, and by expanding its partnerships. 

My goals for AidX are, in conjunction with my Co-Founder Tarig Hilal, to: 

1. secure early-stage investments
2. achieve product-market fit for our flagship financial pooling app in Kenya by December 2020
3. build out our Team including key senior executive roles; and 
4. begin to scale the product in new markets. 

Within 5 years Moja will have acquired 12 million customers and we will be expanding rapidly globally.

I see a number of potential barriers to realizing my goals in the next year and in the next 5 years. Those barriers differ for each area of focus:

Barriers to addressing exclusion from political opportunities: 

• Visibility barriers: To scale the impact I have been having on addressing exclusion from political opportunities requires greater visibility and promotion of my and Conflict Dynamics’ ongoing work and methods.  
• Partnership barriers: Gaining scale in use of the Political Accommodation Methodology will require partnerships with inter-governmental organizations such as the UN, African Union, EU etc. 
• Financial barriers: Scaling of this work requires dedicated core resources to build partnerships and catalyze the work in new contexts.
• Political barriers: There can be political barriers to addressing exclusion imposed by those governments and others who do not want greater inclusion. 

Barriers to addressing exclusion from access to financial services: 

• Visibility barriers: My work to address exclusion from access to financial services needs more visibility and promotion to attract investor and other attention.
• Market barriers: AIdX will need to move rapidly to scale Moja in new markets; this will require further experienced team members (CTO, COO) and further partnerships.
• Legal/regulatory: AidX will need guidance and advice to navigate potential legal and regulatory barriers as it expands into new markets.
• Financial barriers: A current barrier to achieving this goal at the current time is access to funding to achieve product-market fit and to achieve traction to secure later stage investments.

The main barriers I have identified are financial, visibility-related, market and partnership barriers. 

To overcome these barriers, I will work with colleagues to:

1. Continue active fundraising for each stream of work; for Conflict Dynamics this means increased focus on supporting partners that can fund multi-year strategic collaborations. For AidX this means securing early-stage investments to achieve product-market fit. 
2. Increase the visibility of my work through articles, publications and speaking engagements, and engage the Board of Conflict Dynamics and AidX Advisory Group to increase visibility and exposure. Conflict Dynamics will launch a new website and has revised its communications materials.
3. Once it has gained traction in Kenya, AidX will expand Moja into East African markets; to do this AidX will build out its Executive Team, focusing on Operations. It will expand its current presence in Nairobi, Kenya. Moreover, it will deploy colleagues to new markets to build small local teams in advance of introduction of the product. 
4. I will continue to build partners that can help the two organizations scale their work; this includes partnerships with inter-governmental organizations, payments providers with operations throughout Africa, and mobile network operators (MNOs), as well as social impact investment funds.
5. I will expand work with civil society constituencies so that the work to address exclusion can not be help up indefinitely by political actors in certain countries. People are bringing change through non-violent means in the United States, Sudan, Lebanon etc. 

I have built partnerships with a range of networking, supporting and operational partners for both Conflict Dynamics and AidX.

Conflict Dynamics has well—established partnerships with several governmental and non-governmental donors as well as practitioner networks, such as the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. The organization has working partnerships with national organizations in the countries in which it works (e.g. SOYDEN in Somalia) as well as with inter-governmental organizations such as the United Nations and European Union. 

The aspect of partnership which are missing are: partnerships build around multi-year core/strategic support and collaboration; and partnerships to expand the reach of the organization’s work into new contexts.

AidX has established a partnership with Flutterwave, a payments provider in Africa, and also has a collaboration with HedgeHog Labs in the United Kingdom, as a technology development partner. AidX has also established partnerships with law firms: Gunderson Dettmer in the United States and Bowmans in Kenya.

The two ventures I have founded use two different business models: 

Conflict Dynamics: 

The business model which Conflict Dynamics employs to address exclusion is that the organization enters into a value exchange with supporting partners (governmental and non-governmental donors) whereby the supporting partner provides financial resources to Conflict Dynamics, which in turn provides technical assistance, frameworks and tools, convening and mediation services to the intended audience at no charge. The organization delivers impact to its intended audience at no cost to the end user. It is essentially a ‘grant by grant’ contribution model. 

AidX: 

The business model for AidX is that the company generates revenue through customers’ use of the Moja smartphone app in 3 ways: 

• Withdrawal/cross-border transaction and pool administration fees
• Fees for connecting customers in a peer-to-peer lending marketplace
• Portion of returns provided to customers on their invested funds. 

Conflict Dynamics has been operating on a grant-based business model for 16 years, and has achieved a high degree of financial sustainability. However, to scale its work, Conflict Dynamics will need further resources and is therefore seeking to (i) expand the core (non-Program) resources of the organization through additional grants, (ii) expand resource for scaling through partnership arrangements; and (iii) build out new revenue streams that are not grant based.

AidX is a people-focused technology company which is actively (as of July 2020) seeking investors to expand the customer base of its flagship product Moja in Kenya and thereafter to scale across Africa. The venture requires initial investment of US$ 400,000 to achieve product market fit in Kenya and will require a further US$ 6.8 million to scale across 7 additional countries. However, the revenue which will be derived from customer use of the mobile pooling app will generate a net profit by 2023. Moja will achieve financial sustainability through customer growth and use of core features. 

Conflict Dynamics’ work to address exclusion from political, economic and socio-cultural opportunities has been generating revenue from governmental donors, private and other foundations, and from individuals for the past 16 years. 

The organization’s annual revenue over the past few years has averaged approximately US$ 3.5 million. 

Its support over recent years has come through grants from: 

• Governments: Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom 
• Inter-governmental bodies: European Union, United Nations 
• Foundations: National Endowment for Democracy, Humanity United

However, most of Conflict Dynamics’ revenue has been for specific programs. The organization is currently fundraising to scale its work, including through expansion of partnerships.

AidX is not currently generating revenue as it has just launched a beta version of its product Moja in Kenya (April 2020). My business partner and I have bootstrapped AidX with US$ 250,000 investment.

Conflict Dynamics is seeking to raise funds for the core, non-program activities of the organization, which include activities to scale the work of the organization. The organization is seeking to raise US$ 350,000 in core/non-program for each of the next 5 years. Conflict Dynamics is seeking grant funding and wishes to raise these funds by the end of 2020. This is in addition to the organization’s regular program-specific fundraising which has been successful in recent years. 

The organization has recently developed a new Strategic Plan, in which one of the 4 strategic goals is expansion of the financial resources of the organization, with an emphasis on core, non-program resources. 

AidX is currently engaging investors to raise $ 400,000 for 2020 to achieve product-market fit. AidX is engaging potential investors using an equity instrument. Future rounds of funding will seek to raise a further US$ 6.8 million to scale Moja across multiple countries. This initial investment of US$ 400,000 will enable Moja to gain traction among customers in the beachhead market of Kenya, which will significantly increase the valuation of the company.

The estimated expenses for AidX for the remainder of 2020 to achieve product-market fit total US$ 398,000. This includes expenses in the following areas: (i) Personnel costs, including salaries of core team members; (ii) R&D costs, including customer research and cost of a Lead Sortware Development and UX/UI Specialist; (iii) Finance Admin costs, including bookkeeping and accountants; (iv) legal fees, for legal and regulatory advice in US, UK and Kenya; (v) marketing costs; (vi) cost of goods sold, including payments processing fees; and (vii) office, software and travel expenses. 

The estimated expenditure for Conflict Dynamics in 2020 is US$ 3.3 million. Approximately US$ 320,000 is expensed on core/institutional expenses (often referred to as ‘General Admin and Management Expenses’). A detailed breakdown of the organization’s expenditure for prior years is provided on the organization’s ‘Form 990’ filings to the Department of the Treasury, available for public inspection at: https://projects.propublica.or...

I am applying to The Elevate Prize because my work is at a tipping point and I believe what the Prize offers could be very helpful in scaling my impact. 

I have been working for many years to address exclusion from political, economic and social opportunities. That work has often been ‘behind the scenes.’ To advance to the next level of impact I need to scale two ventures which I founded: Conflict Dynamics and AidX. 

In an earlier section of this application, I listed the opportunities I see for impact, as well as the barriers. 

The visibility the Prize affords can elevate the issues I am working on and can elevate my OUTSIDE IN project. The opportunities for partnerships and access to networks that the Prize affords could also bridge some of the partnership gaps for the two ventures and can propel this work forward. 

I will benefit from the professional management and development services, and the mentoring and coaching, which the Prize offers. Advice on scaling a FinTECH company and on building agile teams will be particularly helpful. 

The potential to be part of a dynamics network of like-minded ‘solvers’ is also particularly attractive as a way of having colleagues push me to achieve my goals. 

Lastly, the financial prize will assist in accelerating progress with AidX to achieve product-market fit.

Partnership and support goals: 

Funding and revenue model - At this stage I will benefit from support, included visibility and communications support, to secure funding for this work and to advise on business and revenue models.

Mentorship and coaching - This will be most helpful in the areas of talent acquisition as I build out the AidX team, scaling of FinTECH/technology companies and financial inclusion markets and competitors. 

Marketing, media and exposure - This area of support will be extremely helpful as I will benefit from more exposure for my work which is already having a significant impact. 

The types of organization I would like to partner withe include: 

1. Social impact funds and/or philanthropic foundations working on financial inclusion/FinTECH
2. Other FinTECH ventures that have successfully scaled products in emerging markets
3. Payments providers and processors
4. Companies developing technologies that will come into our technology stack, such as those working on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
5. Technology companies developing applications
6. Human-centered design companies