KM4Dev
Knowledge Management for Development

KM4Dev has been instrumental in assisting with the direction of policy dialogue and innovative ideas within a developing region such as the Caribbean.

I just wanted to let everyone know that after 40 years I am finally retiring from USAID. I’ve had a lot of fun here, including working with Stacey Young and others on KM and organizational learning.

For much of my time, I have felt I have had a shadow team, a band of KM leaders, willing to give their time and their ideas for each other. There is no way I could have been as effective without KM4DEV having my back. I wanted to thank you all soooo much for being such an entertaining and effective community. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve told AID staff to join KM4DEV, and to post a question. I’ve always been impressed and frankly proud of the quickness and quality of responses to questions, and the depth of discussion, often within an hour or so of a post. In fact, you all have been one of my primary sources for insights on KM communities (along with Shell and the US Army, just to give them their due also!). And I have to say that USAID now has a really deep and meaningful COP ecosystem. It’s taken a long time, and thanks to KM4DEV for being there as a powerful role model.

I’m not going away; I still plan to follow KM4DEV once I unwind a bit, and probably will weigh in as a "retiree", and hope my colleagues at USAID will continue to learn from all of you!

Knowledge Management for Development (KM4DEV) is a global community of practice of primarily international development practitioners interested in knowledge management and knowledge sharing theory, practice and related matters. On 2-3 July 2020, they celebrated their 20 Years Anniversary with 10 online sessions over a 24 hr period. The sessions involved a large number of KM4Dev members around the globe. John Hovell, Donita Volkwijn and I talked at one of these sessions on Conversational Leadership. You can watch the session on YouTube. If you are interested in all of the sessions you will find them on the KM4DEV YouTube channel. Well done KM4DEV. I love your work.

When I first joined KM4Dev in 2010, I didn’t introduce myself. I simply listened. I was what we used to call a lurker, quietly reading, learning, and absorbing the wisdom of others. What drew me in was the openness and generosity of the community, and the sense that knowledge here was not about hierarchy or jargon, but about people helping one another make sense of the world together.

Over time, that quiet curiosity grew into a deep sense of belonging. In 2017, I was invited by Peter Bury to join the Core Group, a true aha moment for me. Becoming part of the core team meant I could openly practice, test, and refine new ideas with the community, in a space grounded in trust, curiosity, and shared purpose. From that moment on, KM4Dev became not just a place for learning, but part of who I am.

When the pandemic began, our plans for a face-to-face celebration of KM4Dev’s 20th anniversary had to be reimagined. At the time, I had just opened a Zoom account and was experimenting with it. What started as simple practice sessions soon evolved into the Knowledge Cafés, creating virtual spaces for reflection, connection, and collective sense-making at a moment when many of us needed it most, allowing us to grow and provide access to many voices that would not have participated in the face-to-face event.

Since then, I’ve had the privilege of being involved in initiatives that truly embody the soul of KM4Dev: the Knowledge Cafés, where reflection and connection unfold through conversation. The Youth Leadership Forum, opening space for new voices and perspectives. The 20th Anniversary online celebration, a powerful reminder of how far we have come together. The Mentoring Programme, where learning flows in both directions. The Knowledge Sharing Toolkit revival, reimagining how we capture and share what we know.
And many other moments that reflect the spirit of this community. And even provide ideas for the update of the new website.

Each of these experiences has reinforced something essential: KM4Dev is not just a network, it is a living example of what collective intelligence, trust, and care can achieve. Through this community, I have met mentors who became friends, friends who became collaborators, and collaborators who became family. KM4Dev has been my anchor, my sounding board, and a constant reminder that there is limitless space for learning when knowledge is shared with generosity and trust — and that generosity, not technology, is what truly sustains a learning culture.

To every member, past, present, and future: thank you. Thank you for the conversations that sparked ideas, the patience to listen, the courage to question, and the kindness to support. You have inspired me more than you can imagine, and you continue to remind me why I chose this path — because knowledge, at its heart, is human.

The community is strong and cohesive, offering opportunities to share experiences across cultures with an open and inclusive approach.

The optimal culture for "KM" is exactly as you have in KM4Dev, which is an open inclusive and supportive one. This supports the flow of knowledge and builds trust, but is hard to "measure" (so difficult to write requirements for in a standard format, although I would argue this is more important than anything that can be accurately measured). This is what we were trying to get a greater sense of into the standard, but were not able to get across as strongly as some of us would have liked. However, there are stronger elements of this in the old Australian KM Standard, which we will revive as a supporting guide.

Speaking of personal experience, it is quite difficult for many of us, especially women from the so-called "Global South," to think of ourselves as "experts". There is a conditioning that we need to overcome in order to contribute. KM4Dev is an excellent platform that has only gotten stronger over the years. I have personally benefited a lot from the community. This is the safe space for all of us. There are many mentors here who are willing to help and support. So, I strongly encourage all of us to write and participate on the topics that interest us. There are no right or wrong things when it comes to experience, let us share what we know and learn from each other even through disagreements and grow.