Our purpose transcends our product. We are interested in lifelong relationships that deepen shared insights about the issues that matter to you, and to us.
We create world-class knowledge pieces that humanize complex global issues and feel like art. Mixing the power of social science, investigative journalism, and the visual arts, we bring you high-quality evidence from the front lines. We mainly focus on social and environmental challenges across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Our job is to listen before anything else. We believe that if we come to the table with humility, integrity, and respect, we can arrive at creative approaches to complex issues that move the ball forward and make the world a better, more understanding place to live.
Through a rigorous process of preparation and execution, we combine varied data collection techniques, using multimedia tools, to pursue the truth about any social or environmental topic we cover on the ground.
Our core team is our most important asset – an interdisciplinary team with the research acumen, political dexterity, and logistical know-how to do the complex work we do. When needed, we integrate new collaborative team members, but we do not subcontract work.
Our work provides insights directly from the protagonists of the issues we cover. We make complex issues accessible in a way that influences policy-making and shapes public opinion.
Everything at DAWNING is tailor-made. In response to the needs of our clients, we take care of every single detail, from project ideation to final delivery. We are not divided into cubicles – we are a deeply collaborative family organization.
Our nimble team has worked for years to build partnerships that allow us to work all over the world and get to the bottom of issues no matter where the plane lands.
We do a maximum of eight projects a year. Each is custom-built for at least one month of preparation, at least two weeks intensive fieldwork, and one to three months in post-production. We are flexible while respecting our scheduled commitments.
Our work is to provide rigorous knowledge products that illuminate some of the most complex issues of our time. In doing so we offer tremendous value to clients and partners with evidence-based insights that allow them to better understand their work and its global context. Our clients and partners understand our uncompromising commitment to our ethics and values.
We work with organizations that care about impact as much as we do. Our work has been consistently published by prestigious media and is also exhibit-ready. We believe in the power of these public forums to amplify the value of the work we do together. We invite you to visit our projects, and contact us to discuss how working together can benefit your people and the world.
Our team stays on the job from the beginning to the end of every project.
This stage begins with concept development, including a review of literature, drafting a methods plan, and visual ideation. We then move into fieldwork logistics (scheduling, travel, accommodation, security, insurance), followed by finalizing our team, and preparing necessary equipment and fieldwork materials.
Throughout fieldwork our multidisciplinary team maintains a 24/7 readiness. This team consists of 8-10 professionals including four to five members of the core DAWNING team plus local specialists. The team works tirelessly to collect every type of primary data including visual and testimonial. We also closely manage data classification and security.
At this point our core team conducts an analysis of all research materials as well as undergoes collection of any necessary additional data. This is followed by an intensive selection and editing of textual and visual data, art direction for illustration and video, the sequencing of all materials, and the design of a final product.
