The Interactive Loop: Community-Driven Solutions

We combine direct community engagement and participatory media and technology. Our projects are designed around the priorities, experiences, opinions, and solutions of the communities with whom we partner. Every program has multiple touch-points that integrate community solutions and feedback. We call this a generative feedback loop.

Under a new strategic agreement announced today, Equal Access International (EAI) is joining Blumont, Inc. Blumont’s acquisition of EAI unites two organizations with complementary experience and a shared commitment to the communities they serve around the world.“I am thrilled to welcome EAI to Blumont,” said Jonathan Nash, Blumont’s President & CEO. “EAI joining our team is an opportunity to build on our collective strengths as the sector transforms.”Blumont and EAI bring together decades of experience across international development and humanitarian assistance, working with communities navigating protracted crises and shifting social, political, and economic conditions. Recent programming reflects that, while their missions are aligned, the organizations implement activities across diverse geographies and contexts.“This agreement was borne out of a shared approach and vision for the future,” said Graham Couturier, President & CEO of EAI. “Working together creates spaces and opportunities for new thinking and greater resilience. On behalf of everyone at EAI, I am delighted to be joining forces with Blumont.”EAI will continue implementing ongoing work under its established name, and Couturier will remain as EAI’s President & CEO.The acquisition proceeded with the full endorsement of both organizations’ boards of directors. With the agreement, Blumont becomes the sole member of EAI’s Board of Directors, with Blumont’s Board of Directors providing guidance and oversight. Three members of EAI’s current Board have been nominated to serve on Blumont’s Board; Couturier will join Blumont’s Executive Management Team.“Our goal is to evolve with purpose, while staying grounded in what matters most,” said Nash. “We’re committed to the people we work with—communities, donors, and partners—and we’ll continue challenging ourselves to deliver with even greater efficiency and impact.”In line with the agreement, integration is expected to take several months, with a focus on maximizing operational efficiencies and establishing a foundation for organizational resilience. Media Advisory: Blumont and Equal Access International Unite to Expand Global Impact (September 8, 2025) %%sitename%%

Formative Research

Literature Review/Problem and Context Analysis
Focus Groups
Qualitative Participant and Influencer Interviews
Alliance Assessments e.g.partnership and network landscaping

Stakeholder Engagement

Informative and Consultative Stakeholder Meetings
Townhall Meetings
Content Advisory Groups
Community Roundtables
Shuras and traditional forms of community gathering
Youth Clubs
Community Researchers

Capacity Building

Tech Camps and Hackathons
Lifeskills Training
Advocacy Training
Leadership and Empowerment Workshops
Participatory M&E Training
Gender and Inclusion Training
Social Media Influencer Training
Strategic Communications Planning/Campaign Development
Content Development Training
Scriptwriting and Journalism Training

Co-created Communication Programs

Serial Dramas
Chat and Morning Shows
Magazine Programs
Documentary and Narrative Films
Original Television Series
Street Theater
Music Videos
Digital Media Campaigns and Branding
Community Reporters

Interactive Feedback

Social Media
SMS platforms
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Radio and Television Call-Ins
Surveys
Contests and Games

Social Action

Learning Discussion and Action Groups (LDAGs)
Public Resource Use and Service Delivery Overisght
Norms Diffusion
Establishment of Civic Groups

Learning & Adapting

Baseline, Mideline, Endline Surveys
Monitoring & Evaluation Tools
Approach, Strategy and Methodology Reviews
Periodic Review and Reflection Meetings
Participatory Community Mapping and Appraisals
Random Control Trials (RCTs)

We bring our approach to life through these methodologies

Social and Behavior Change Communications (SBCC)

We know that sound communication strategies inspire action at the individual, community, and government levels. For us, inspiration is the great frontier of social and behavioral change.

We do more than simply inform our audiences, we help them develop them the skills and motivation to foster their own change. To do this we use different approaches, including listening, discussion, and action groups; life skills and youth empowerment training; community town hall meetings; and interactive street theater performances.

We approach SBCC holistically with the goal of inspiring change in individuals and communities by including families, peers, local leaders, and government. By working with the whole ecosystem that surrounds and influences a person’s life, we encourage positive changes that are driven by real needs and are sustainable over the long-term.

Asset and Vision-Based Programming

Our approach to empowerment is aligned with positive youth development and is infused across all our global programming. We maintain that all individuals, including at-risk and vulnerable youth or those with counter-normative or “radical” views, have assets that can be leveraged and oriented towards positive outcomes.

As a result, our dynamic approach to preventing and countering violent extremism recognizes, enhances, and channels the potential assets of all individuals – such as agency, commitment, leadership, and self-efficacy – and identifies positive pro-social pathways that help to reorient youth impulses, attitudes, and behaviors away from violence and toward civic empowerment.

We help communities connect their new skills to resources and opportunities that help society overcome social exclusion and marginalization. Without these opportunities for success and growth at the local and regional levels, youth are more likely to engage in self-destructive and risky behavior with gangs, criminal networks, or armed opposition groups.

In a world where youth and vulnerable communities are too often defined by their risk, our efforts strengthen youth assets, foster local agency, bolster an enabling environment, and empower tangible local contributions to social change.

Norms Change

We understand social norms as the rules that tell a society or community what behavior is expected or allowed. This includes our perceptions of how others in a community behave (what we think others will do) and how we think others expect us to behave (what we believe others expect us to do).

Norms are deeply entrenched in the fabric of a society and held in place by influential groups, such as peers, family members, and community leaders. As such they are often unchallenged and are notoriously difficult to change. We aim to challenge existing negative norms and behaviors while modeling positive ones. We do this primarily through radio, TV, community dialogue platforms, and mobile theater, but also by partnering with leaders and influencers in a community who are often the gate-keepers of the norms we are trying to address.

We encourage critical reflection and dialogue, creating a safe space where norms can be questioned and new behaviors practiced. In this way, we influence the collective beliefs that drive social norms while incubating and dispersing new, more positive norms through our active community-based groups.

Partner with Us

Work with EAI to expand the evidence for norms change and asset-based programming.

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