A Knowledge and Policy Institute
Generating, synthesising and translating evidence into actionable policy and institutional knowledge.
About South Collective
An independent, globally networked institution connecting the wisdom of the Global South, so that one country's experience can become another country's opportunity.
About South Collective
South Collective is an independent, globally networked institution dedicated to strengthening cooperation across the Global South through knowledge, partnerships, innovation and action.
The Global South is a house of solutions
The Global South is not a house of problems. It is a house of solutions. It is a reservoir of wisdom, knowledge, experience and innovation built through diverse but often shared developmental journeys. Its greatest untapped asset is not what it lacks, but what it already knows and has learned to do.
The problem is fragmentation. Solutions remain isolated. Knowledge remains siloed. Experience remains nationally bound. Innovation remains under-connected. Partnerships remain temporary.
South Collective exists to change this. We connect the wisdom of the Global South so that one country's experience can become another country's opportunity, one institution's innovation can become another's solution, and collective knowledge can become collective action.
What kind of institution we are
A new-generation Global South institution operating at the intersection of knowledge, policy, partnerships, innovation and action, deliberately not confined to a single institutional category. It brings together four complementary functions:
A Capacity and Leadership Platform
Strengthening the capabilities of practitioners, institutions and emerging leaders through training, fellowships and peer learning.
A Partnership and Solution Connector
Connecting governments, research institutions, technical experts, innovators, development partners, philanthropies and private-sector capability around shared priorities.
A Digital Knowledge and Collaboration Platform
Building enduring infrastructure through which knowledge, expertise, institutions, solutions and opportunities can be discovered, exchanged and connected beyond individual projects and funding cycles.
What makes us different
Think tanks generate evidence. Universities generate knowledge. Development organisations implement programmes. Consulting firms provide technical expertise. Governments formulate and implement policy. Philanthropies provide capital. Innovators develop solutions.
South Collective is designed around the space between them: connecting research with policy, knowledge with practice, institutions with institutions, innovation with adoption, finance with opportunity, and one country's experience with another's learning.
Other institutions may specialise in knowledge, finance, implementation, research or technology. South Collective specialises in connecting them. Our value lies not in creating new solutions alone, but in ensuring that successful solutions travel farther, faster and more effectively across the Global South.
Vision & Mission
Vision
A connected and empowered Global South that transforms its shared experience, knowledge and innovation into collective solutions, resilient societies and inclusive, sustainable prosperity.
Mission
To build an enduring institutional network across the Global South that connects governments, knowledge institutions, technical communities, innovators, development practitioners, philanthropies, civil society and the private sector to exchange knowledge, co-create solutions, strengthen capabilities, shape policy, build partnerships and accelerate scalable action for resilient, inclusive and sustainable development.
What this means in practice
We envision a Global South that is not merely a recipient of knowledge, technology, finance or development solutions, but an active producer, exchanger and co-creator of knowledge and innovation: countries and institutions learning from one another across borders and sectors, and successful experiences travelling beyond the places where they originated.
While government-to-government cooperation remains important, we build the wider institutional ecosystem required to make such cooperation deeper, more continuous and more impactful. We work across the continuum from knowledge to action: generating evidence, facilitating peer learning, connecting institutions and experts, supporting contextual adaptation, strengthening capacities, informing policy, mobilising partnerships and enabling the scaling of proven approaches.
Guiding Principles
Eight principles shape how South Collective works with every partner, country and institution.
South-Led, South-Connected
Grounded in the knowledge, experience, leadership and aspirations of the Global South, built on mutual learning, co-creation and shared leadership. No country is merely a donor or recipient; every partner brings knowledge, experience and value.
Ecosystem before Replication
No solution can be separated from the ecosystem in which it emerged. We understand local institutions, capabilities, policies, culture, resources and constraints before considering adaptation, replication or scale, with national ownership and institutional fit at the core.
Evidence with Purpose
Rigorous evidence combined with deep contextual understanding, grounded in field realities and stakeholder needs, and translated into knowledge that informs decisions, policy and practical action.
Connect, Catalyse and Complement
We do not duplicate the mandates of existing institutions. We connect complementary capabilities and create pathways for institutions to achieve collectively what they cannot achieve alone.
Partnership Without Hierarchy
Trusted cooperation based on equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, respecting national sovereignty, national priorities and institutional independence.
Demand-Driven, Non-Conditional and Locally Owned
We respond to locally articulated needs and nationally defined priorities rather than imposing predetermined agendas. Decisions remain with the institutions and countries concerned.
Network Before Hierarchy; Learning Before Closure
A lean institutional core and a wide, distributed network of institutions and experts. Every engagement is a source of learning, captured, evaluated and fed back into future policy, practice and partnerships.
Independence, Stewardship and Impact
Diversified, transparent and responsible financing: no single funder, government or commercial interest determines our agenda. We measure value created: institutions strengthened, knowledge exchanged, solutions adapted and partnerships sustained.
Our core values
Institutional credibility is earned through the quality of knowledge, the integrity of relationships, the independence of judgment and the value created for others.
- Rigor: evidence that withstands intellectual, technical and practical scrutiny.
- Humility: we listen before we advise; knowledge also resides in practitioners, communities and lived experience.
- Independence: our conclusions are not determined by any single government, funder or partner.
- Collaboration: complex challenges require collective intelligence.
- Respect: for diverse development pathways, national priorities, cultures and knowledge systems.
- Integrity: transparency, responsibility and credibility above short-term opportunity.
- Stewardship: building for the long term, beyond individual projects and funding cycles.
- Innovation: open to new ideas and models, grounded in context and purpose.
Leadership & Team
South Collective is built as a lean permanent core supported by a wide, distributed network. Our remote-first structure is a deliberate design choice: it lets us work with country fellows and thematic experts within their own institutions, giving the Collective reach and credibility across the Global South that a conventional, headcount-driven organisation could not match.
- Core Team: executive leadership, programmes, partnerships, operations and finance.
- Country Fellows: credible practitioners embedded in partner hospitals, universities and civil society organisations.
- Thematic Experts: engaged per programme across our strategic pillars.
- Institutional Partners: hospitals, universities, NGOs and governments in standing collaboration.
Leadership
Dr. Ankireddy Maruthi Srinivas
Executive Director
Thippaluru Hemavathi
Director
Dr Sivasenareddy Araypalli
Director
Dr. Araypalli Lokeshwari
Director
Team
Dr Martha Abera
Advisor (Gender Studies)
Dr. Brook Abate
Advisor (NRM)
Dr. M. S. Kassam
Advisor (Public Health)
Dr. P. Sridhar
Advisor (Spatial Information Technology)
Dr. Pushpak
Advisor (International Relations)
Dr. Sisay Demeku Derib
Advisor (STI Policy)
NGR Kartheek
Advisor (Climate Adaptation & Renewable Energy))
Periah Sastry
Advisor (Energy and Sustainability)
Governance
Board of Directors
The Board carries fiduciary oversight, institutional stewardship, strategy and statutory responsibility, as required under South Collective's Section 8 company structure.
Advisory Council
The Advisory Council brings independent strategic and technical guidance from leaders with direct experience across multilateral development, climate policy, agricultural and rural development economics, and Asia-Pacific regional cooperation. It lends institutional credibility but holds no operational or fiduciary authority, which remains with the Board.
We protect our independence through diversified, transparent financing: no single funder, government or commercial interest determines our agenda or professional judgment.
Advisory Council
Abdoulie Janneh
Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
Jennifer Kalpokas Doan
Executive Director, Pacific Regional Programme, Balance of Power, Vanuatu; former Chairperson of the Board, Bank South Pacific Vanuatu Ltd
Dr. Ashok Dalwai
Former Chairman, Committee on Doubling of Farmers' Income (DFI), Government of India
Prof. Jyoti Prakash
Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay)
Dr. P. Chandra Shekara
Director General, Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP)
