Elsie Mulindi 

Elsie highlighted the importance of ABCD approaches for strengthening citizen-led accountability through her organization’s work in Kenya with persons with disabilities: 

“After participating in the Citizen Led Accountability Learning for Strengthened Influence and Empowerment (CLASIE) workshop at the Coady Institute, my understanding of community engagement shifted profoundly. Before the training, many of our interventions with persons with disabilities were structured around identifying needs and mobilizing external support. While these interventions were valuable, the CLASIE workshop introduced me to Assets-Based Community-Led Development (ABCD) and the transformative idea that communities, no matter how marginalized, already possess strengths, knowledge, and leadership capable of driving change.  

Shortly after the training, I held a staff meeting to restructure the way we approach community-led interventions. We began applying this approach while working with a group of women with disabilities in an informal settlement in Nairobi. The women often described themselves as recipients of assistance rather than agents of change. Through a series of facilitated community dialogues inspired by the ABCD methodology, we began mapping the assets already present in their community: skills, networks, local relationships, and collective knowledge about navigating public systems. 

One participant, a young mother who uses a wheelchair, initially spoke very little during discussions. She explained privately that she had always assumed policy and budget discussions were for “educated people and politicians.” Through the participatory processes I learned during the CLASIE training, we created safe spaces where every voice mattered. Over time, she began to contribute ideas on how the local government could improve accessibility in public service delivery. 

Encouraged by the group, she eventually joined other persons with disabilities to attend a county public participation forum on the annual development plan. For the first time, members of this community delivered organized oral submissions on accessibility and inclusive budgeting. They also followed up by submitting a written memorandum to the County Assembly. Within six months, she and other group members participated in two county public participation forums on development planning. 

As a result, over 50 persons with disabilities, a majority being women, are now regularly participating in local civic processes. The most powerful change was not only that their concerns were heard, but that the women themselves began to see their collective voice as a civic asset. Today, the group continues to monitor local development projects and participate in budget consultations. 

The CLASIE training gave me the tools to shift from a traditional service-delivery mindset to facilitating community agency and citizen-led accountability. The training helped shift our work from only service delivery to facilitating community agency and citizen-led accountability, enabling marginalized PWDs to become active contributors to governance processes. 

The change has strengthened the confidence and civic participation of PWDs, transforming them from passive beneficiaries of charity into active leaders shaping decisions that affect their lives.”