Impact
What we will report, and how
USAW has not delivered programming yet, so there are no results on this page. What there is instead is the system that will produce them - published in advance, so it can be held against us.
Where we are
No results yet, and we are not going to imply otherwise
USAW is in Phase 1 of a three-phase implementation strategy: organizational setup, running through the first two years. Community Chapter and enterprise counts are zero because delivery has not started.
A new organization can either fill this page with figures about the wider problem and let them read as its own achievements, or it can publish its measurement framework and wait. We are doing the second. The conditions we were formed to change are described on the homepage, with each figure attributed to its source.
Results framework
Five-year results framework
Four headline indicators, one per strategic goal, with their baselines and five-year targets.
| Strategic goal | Key outcome indicator | Baseline | Year 5 target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainability Education | Women and youth trained annually | To be set - Phase 1 baseline research | 5,000+ trained cumulatively |
| Economic Empowerment | Women-led green enterprises supported | 0 (pre-launch) | 250+ enterprises supported |
| Community Engagement | Active Community Chapters | 0 (pre-launch) | 25+ chapters across Ghana, the US and Canada |
| Advocacy & Leadership | Women in environmental policy forums | To be set - Phase 1 baseline research | 100+ policy engagements cumulatively |
MEAL
How we measure
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning - the system that tracks performance against the theory of change.
Measures of success
- Number of women and youth trained and engaged
- Number of programmes conducted and Community Chapters active
- Measurable community impact - waste reduced, water reclaimed, gardens created, businesses supported
- Participant feedback, satisfaction and reported outcomes
Full indicators, baselines, targets, dashboard design and reporting templates sit in the MEAL Framework, which will be published on the resources page once approved.
Disaggregated by default
Every participation indicator is reported by sex and age. An aggregate number hides exactly the pattern USAW exists to change.
Baselines before claims
Where no baseline exists, we say so rather than reporting a change we cannot evidence. Two of the four headline indicators have no baseline yet.
Targets published in advance
The five-year targets below were set before delivery began, so the first impact report can be measured against something stated in public rather than chosen afterwards.
Consent and dignity in evidence
Participant stories and photographs are collected under a documented consent standard. No image or story is published without it.
Risk
Risk register
Published because a funder will ask, and because an organization that cannot name its own risks has not examined them.
| Risk | Rating | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Funding concentration | Medium | Diversify across grants, corporate partnerships, membership and social enterprise revenue. |
| Programme scope overreach - ten pillars against current capacity | High | Phase the rollout; prioritise pillars with existing partnership readiness. This is why most pillars are published as "in design". |
| Delayed institutional registration in Ghana and Canada | Medium | Sequence registration within the Phase 1–2 timeline with dedicated legal support. |
| Volunteer Board capacity constraints | Medium | Introduce paid Secretariat roles as funding allows; stagger committee workloads. |
| Political or regulatory shifts in target geographies | Medium | Monitor the policy environment; maintain flexible, locally adapted programme design. |
Ratings are likelihood × impact, each scored 1–5. The full register with root causes and monitoring indicators follows the same methodology used across USAW's programme risk assessments.
Next
The logic these indicators test
Every indicator above exists to test one causal claim. It is worth reading alongside this page.