SAYDS Community Association (SCA)

Systems Thinkers in Policy Consulting & Sustainable Development

A community of SAYDS Fellowship alumni applying systems thinking to design sustainable, community-driven solutions — in partnership with institutions, academia, and development partners across policy, environment, and youth empowerment.

Explore Our Work Become a Fellow

SCA members in close discussion during a working session.

Alumni-ledEvery member is a SAYDS Fellowship graduate

Who We Are

A semi-autonomous arm of SAYDS

SCA is a semi-autonomous arm of SAYDS — a learning ecosystem where fellowship graduates put systems thinking into practice. Rather than treating symptoms, members examine the structures, incentives, and relationships behind complex challenges like waste management, governance, and climate resilience, working alongside communities to co-create solutions that last.

SAYDS members standing in a circle during an outdoor workshop.

Our Work

Three ways SCA turns analysis into change

SAYDS representatives meeting government officials at an institutional visit.

Partnerships

Global Collaboration, Local Impact

SCA works alongside academic institutions and development partners — including the University of Florida, Minerva University Sustainability Lab, and the Nairobi County Balozi Program — combining local knowledge with global perspective to design practical, context-sensitive solutions.

SCA members on site in a Kenyan community during a field project.

Projects & Collaborations

Systems Thinking in Action

From sustainable waste management in Nyalenda B, Kisumu to urban sustainability initiatives in Nairobi, SCA members apply stakeholder mapping and systems analysis to identify leverage points for lasting community-driven change.

Two fellows working through a hands-on complexity exercise during a training session.

Training & Growth

A Learning Ecosystem

Every SCA member is a graduate of the Systems Thinking and Complexity Fellowship. Members continue building capacity through leadership development, facilitation training, and international virtual exchange programs with partner universities.

Resources

Our Approach

Systems change starts with understanding how actors, institutions, behaviors, incentives, and policies interact — not with treating symptoms. SCA members begin by mapping these relationships, then work with stakeholders to identify leverage points where strategic intervention creates lasting improvement. The result: interventions that are evidence-based, community-owned, and built to last.

Mapping a waste system — Nyalenda B, Kisumu

Map the relationships

Understand how actors, institutions, behaviors, incentives, and policies actually interact — before proposing anything.

Find the leverage points

Work with stakeholders to locate the few places where a strategic intervention creates lasting improvement.

Build what lasts

Deliver interventions that are evidence-based, community-owned, and built to outlive the project that started them.

SIP Analysis Framework

How SCA fellows identify stakeholders, roles, and responsibilities within a systems-thinking design process.

Request Access

“We believe communities already possess valuable knowledge. Our role is to facilitate collaboration, strengthen systems, and co-create solutions that are practical, inclusive, and sustainable.”

Join SCA

Ready to Join the Movement?

Completed the SAYDS Fellowship and want to put systems thinking into practice? SCA is your community.

Become a Member

SAYDS Community Association is a proud initiative of SAYDS — Systems Acumen for Youth-led Development Solutions.