In Rwanda, Moise Irankunda used to review project proposals the way most engineers do - checking designs, verifying technical specifications, signing off on construction. Then he completed a course through the Systems Academy.
"The Systems Academy redefined how we approach project planning and execution," he says. "We now require consultants to include climate resilience components in their project proposals, and two such projects have already been validated."
Moise is a Geographic Information System Specialist at Rwanda's Water and Sanitation Corporation – the country's largest public water utility.
What he requires of the consultants he works with will shape whether these systems still work in ten years’ time.
More than 80% of countries report they don't have enough trained professionals to manage their water and sanitation services.
A pump is installed, but no one is trained to maintain it. A national strategy is written, but planners don't know how to cost it. A climate adaptation plan exists, but engineers have no tools to translate it into project design.
You cannot build strong systems without empowering the people within them.
We launched the Systems Academy in 2019, convinced that systems strengthening knowledge needed to be practical and grounded in how systems actually work, beginning in water and sanitation. Since then, more than 18,000 people across 120 countries have learned with us through self-paced online learning, guided cohorts, hybrid and in-country workshop that feature contextually relevant content, real-world case studies, and content co-created with practitioners. Our courses are now embedded in national training institutes, and we run private learning spaces for government partners. Two university systems in Rwanda have embedded our courses in their curricula.
In 2025, we launched 16 new courses with our partners, covering everything from the links between water and nutrition to systems leadership and climate resilience, and we extended our reach into humanitarian settings.
Bénigne Ishimwe is one of the Systems Academy's lead facilitators for water and sanitation in Rwanda. Her role is to help people to connect what they're learning to the decisions they make every day. As a result of her workshops, people who rarely sit in the same room get to meet, and discuss solutions: national utility staff, private operators and government officers including district planners. She says: “People often arrive thinking their job is technical. By the end of a workshop, the realise it’s also about who they need to be talking to.”
The Systems Academy is central to the kind of systems leadership we believe the world needs. As governments in Africa, Asia and beyond take on greater ownership of their essential public services, they need professionals at every level who can see the whole system, think across sectors, plan for the long term and adapt when things change.
The Academy is growing and helping learners to unlock potential for change: to see and do things differently. Embedded in local institutions, shaped by local experience, and connected to a global community of practitioners who are quietly transforming what public service delivery looks like.
If you're thinking about the capability gaps behind your country's service delivery challenges, we’d welcome a conversation.