Change Agents, for us, are organs supporting change in their community or nation — NGOs, local actors, public sectors, social innovators, and government officials. They are working to build robust systems that support healthy lives and educated people. As our name says, Petronille stands for healthy societies; we are constantly working with change agents and providing them with what they need the most to improve the lives of their community members.

Our Approach

To facilitate global learning networks: Our global network enables us to identify opportunities and help apply them where needed.
To share knowledge of what works:. Working across sub-Saharan Africa has given us significant experience. We have learned what works and, notably, how it works. Moreover, as an International partner working with multiple local partners testing similar interventions in different countries, Petronille Healthy Society is well-positioned to synthesize the results and share them rapidly and widely.

To develop and connect regional networks of local agents. Sub-Saharan Africa has many experts and strong technical institutions. But they are often not given opportunities to play critical roles as they should.
To develop and connect regional networks of local agents. Our networks ensure that local agents have access to the latest global knowledge and opportunities. Local agents must learn from each other how to promote the successful management of complex reform processes, facilitate stakeholder engagement, and effectively translate international evidence for local contexts.
We do so by mobilizing needed domestic resources and developing strategies to use resources efficiently. We assist change-agent-led programs to build local capacity to measure and track their progress in providing high-quality health services. We do so by mobilizing needed domestic resources and developing strategies to use resources efficiently.
To coach change agents: Petronille Healthy Society is frequently asked to provide assistance and technical expertise to local change agents. But we have been redefining how we approach these engagements. We are now coaching local agents instead of doing it for them. Doing so gives them the ability to better care for their community. A few years ago, we used to complete analyses and handed over a technical report with recommendations to local agents and authorities. Now, we work with communities to identify key policies challenge. This approach is often slower and costlier in the short term than just producing a technical deliverable. Still, it creates learning opportunities for local experts, promotes the type of local ownership necessary for sustained action, and develops institutional know-how that can be used to solve tomorrow’s problems.