DESIGNERS OF DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
Brain Trust: Knowledge and Options for Sustainable Development, Inc. (BTI) is a Filipino sustainable development think tank that draws from the collective experience of the founding fellows to craft innovative and integrative development solutions for public and private sector clients. BTI principals are considered among the early pioneers of integrating social, economic, environmental, cultural and political dimensions in planning, policy-making and programming. Each BTI partner brings decades of experience in policy and program development, evaluation and assessment; strategic and action planning; futures thinking and econometric modelling; development management at all governance levels; communication and advocacy; stakeholder engagement; and capacity building in academic and non-academic contexts.
Vision
To be an organization of sustainable development professionals that is acknowledged and respected for the impeccable quality, practical applications and innovativeness of its products and services
Mission
Generating innovative and integrative pedagogies and processes that will catalyze interfaces between and across various disciplines, social groups and local and international arenas in planning, policy-making, implementation, monitoring and assessment of sustainable development interventions
HOW WE WORK
BTI operates through a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach. We bring together highly qualified professionals from diverse fields and mobilize them across engagements involving donor institutions, private sector partners, government agencies, and communities. Through these partnerships, we contribute to building equitable social systems across different ecological and cultural contexts—anchored in respect for diversity, participation, and shared ownership of development outcomes. Our work is guided by a vision of a society where individuals and communities enjoy dignity, security in their chosen ways of living, and harmony between change and tradition—reflecting a balanced, integrated, and integrative development framework.
- only engage experts, maintained through its multi-disciplinary Roster of Fellows, that have strong conceptual understanding, solid professional experience, and clear interest in and passion for the work at hand;
- approaches problem solving using a holistic, integrative and systems approach, which examines an issue at hand from differing perspectives and lenses (e.g. climate change, economic, political, conflict) through its analytical, participatory and consultative tools and methods; and taps the potency of its multi-disciplinary Board of Directors (composed of recognized experts in their respective fields), which reviews and vets key project components and outputs as a standard procedure;
- anchors its method on participation such that all projects must undertake undertake a multi-stakeholder consultative and participatory process to the extent appropriate to the required tasks; and project findings must be shared and discussed with stakeholders to the extent the project resources could support;
- closely monitors project implementation; and regularly provides feedback, consults, and coordinates with the client.;
- works in close consultation and coordination with clients as a standard operating procedure.
Quality Assurance & Governance
Through the above-described practices and the combination of solid baseline information and authentic consultation that builds a strong sense of ownership, BTI receives excellent feedbacks from clients who readily accept the outputs. Notwithstanding this, BTI has quality control mechanism and safeguards against the even remote possibility of unsatisfactory performance of its experts.
A standard practice of BTI in all its projects is the direct participation of its principals in two ways: (a) inclusion of the principal with relevant/required expertise in the project team; and (b) regular vetting of the process, findings and recommendations of the project team with the rest of the principals. This practice ensures that the project is viewed from all directions and disciplines (given the multi-disciplinary expertise of the principals), thus provides the assurance that the project results are holistic, integrated and coherent.
THE FOUNDERS
- (+632) 85702799
- admin@braintrustinc.org
- Unit 810 Medical Plaza Ortigas, 25 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City
- Brain Trust, Inc.