Using CLA to Launch an Innovative Learning Lab

The Measurement, Adaptive Learning, and Knowledge Management Lab (MAKLab) is a promising new mechanism established by MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator (MKA) to address priority challenges and help find and spread promising solutions within a suite of awards. The suite, referred to as MOMENTUM, shares a common goal to improve reproductive health, voluntary family planning, and maternal, newborn, and child health services across the world. MAKLab functions as a learning lab, engaging in short-term activities to address needs identified by MOMENTUM awards. Creating this learning lab involved establishing an innovative process for service delivery that allowed for extra flexibility in response to emerging needs across MOMENTUM and adaptability in complex environments.  MAKLab maintains a flexible team that can pull in expertise and resources to engage in short-term activities that meet prioritized needs. MKA recognized the importance of embedding CLA into MAKLab to learn from and improve upon this innovative model during design and implementation. To integrate CLA, MAKLab used collaborative stakeholder engagement and co-design; rapid cycles of user feedback during activity implementation; and annual assessments to collect information about drivers of success and opportunities for improvement and to plan for change. MAKLab used learning to pivot program design and processes during implementation—including establishing services across multiple technical areas, structuring work with rapid response cycles, and developing processes for spreading resources. The result is that MKA has successfully developed and integrated an innovative service delivery model within MOMENTUM that meets award needs, contributing to improvements in outcomes.