Navigating disturbances in developing countries: Resilience strategies for cross-sector partnerships

The world faces significant challenges, particularly in low-income countries, where cross-sector partnerships strive to create positive social change. Operating under severe uncertainty, these partnerships encounter various disturbances threatening their progress. Despite these challenges, our study explores the resilience strategies that these partnerships use to foster positive social change, an area previously underexplored. Our study uses a qualitative multiple-case study of four cross-sector partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, we collected data via interviews, workshops, and archival sources and used thematic analysis to uncover key resilience strategies. Our findings reveal a cyclical process where, when facing disturbances, cross-sector partnerships respond with resilience strategies that help them mitigate disruptions, adapt to changing conditions, and continue expanding their positive impact. In doing so, they drive positive social change through core activities within their socio-ecological system. This research expands existing theories of organizational resilience by highlighting how cross-sector partnerships in low-income contexts can not only survive, but also expand their impact of positive social change, through resilience.