Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG) brings fresh thinking to challenge the status quo of humanitarian aid. As an ethically driven business, we combine humanitarian passion with entrepreneurial agility to think and do things differently.
We wanted to move away from working within the assumptions of the aid business to challenging the status quo. HAG was created to ask (and answer) hard questions, explore contentious issues and support hard-working teams to improve humanitarian action with new perspectives and networks.
We want to be part of a story that tracks humanitarian action from its current conundrum – humanitarian need outstripping the capacity and agility of the sector – to one that realises its future potential: a sector that challenges power structures and transforms the way that people are treated in crisis around the world.
Our role in that story is to ask and answer tough questions, provide evidence for transformative action, and connect people and ideas. Central to this are our values, our partnerships and the work we choose to do.
We recognise that it’s not just what we do that counts, but how we do business. Our values drive our work decisions and behaviours. That’s why we operate as a social enterprise, meaning we generate income from services, the work we do has a social purpose and we give away at least 50% of our profits.
That’s also why independently supporting the humanitarian sector and its emerging practitioners by giving generously of our time and resources is a core part of our identity.
To uphold our purpose, we: maintain our ethical certifications (B Corporation and Social Traders, invest our time and money, reduce our environmental impact, purchase ethically and support local partners
The humanitarian world has many contentious issues. We explore them bravely and authentically because we believe the best solutions lie in the art of an honest and evidence-based debate.
We believe in giving generously of our ideas, energy, time and networks. We start from a position of ‘yes’.
We understand that life and work don’t run to schedule. We support each other and our partners through changing deadlines, competing priorities and evolving goals to achieve the best possible outcomes.
We constantly test our own assumptions and those of the humanitarian world. We explore both the why and the how. We are eager to listen and learn, recognising that knowledge and wisdom often come from unexpected places.
Boundaries can get blurred. We want ours to be crystal clear and we want to be held accountable. We work with B Corps and adhere to ethical standards so we can hold our heads high and have confidence in our practices.
Researcher | Analyst | Evaluator
Leader | Enabler | Mobiliser
Executive | Dependable | Reflective
Leader | Facilitator | Storyteller
Researcher | Challenger | Zestful
Director | Connector | Initiator
Director | Operator | Adapter
Executive | Questioner | Collaborator
