From Connection to Co-Creation: Learnings from Hello Accelerator’s Strategy Phase

The strategy phase of the Hello Accelerator focused on bringing together key stakeholders from various sectors in the migration ecosystem including business, social innovation and entrepreneurship, humanitarian organizations, media, research and policy to build collaborative solutions that support the socio-economic inclusion of people on the move—with a particular focus on access to meaningful work.

Two regional cohorts—one in Europe and one in Latin America—engaged in a journey of inquiry, reflection, and prototyping that culminated in a set of concrete proposals ready for further development.

Laying the Foundation

The process began with an ecosystem mapping phase, informed by over 100 stakeholder interviews. These insights revealed systemic barriers and opportunities, shaping both the cohort selection and program design. Two diverse regional cohorts were formed, each supported by an external advisory group: the Red de Apoyo in Latin America and the Insights Network in Europe.

Kickstarting with Connection

The program launched with in-person gatherings in Warsaw and Bogotá, which were widely recognized as pivotal. These events built emotional resonance and mutual trust, helping participants understand the initiative’s ambitions and connect their personal experiences to systemic challenges. These gatherings served multiple purposes:

• Introducing the program and its vision, validating its objectives and aligning on a co-creation approach.

• Building trusting relationships in an inclusive, safe environment where participants could connect and collaborate.

• Highlighting the value of multi-stakeholder collaboration across policy, research, business, and media.

• Learning from best practices in local communities through the presentation of initiatives and country-specific actions.

• Introducing foundational tools and early systems mapping.

In Bogotá, the gathering took place alongside the Hola América Festival, amplifying inspiration and visibility. In Warsaw, the cohort participated in an Ecosystem Dinner with the Migration Consortium, featuring over 50 Polish NGOs and advocacy organizations, engaging in national-level dialogues, establishing strong external links.

These moments became the emotional and relational glue that carried the work into the virtual phase. Participants described them as “turning points” that grounded their motivation and created a sense of belonging to something meaningful and real.

The Online Journey

A six-session online process unfolded from November to February. The sessions were structured to move from system sensing to solution imagining:

• Sessions 1–3: Focused on mapping systems and actors, uncovering tensions and leverage points, and integrating insights from empathy interviews.

• Sessions 4–5: Shifted toward prototyping. Participants self-organized around thematic “plots” rather than predefined solutions.

• Session 6: Consolidated and presented early-stage prototypes with storytelling, feedback, and preparation for the next phase.

While the conceptual arc was shared, each region evolved differently:

• Europe leaned into system analysis, spending more time understanding the broader system, identifying stakeholders, and analyzing the power dynamics and institutional barriers within the migration and employment landscape. This depth created valuable insight but made it harder to converge on concrete ideas.

• Latin America progressed more quickly, supported by strong alignment in values, language, and lived context. Shared references and a sense of urgency allowed the group to rapidly identify prototype opportunities and self-organize with confidence.

The design and facilitation teams adapted in tone, pacing, and content, allowing each region to find its rhythm. Cohort leaders played an active role, bridging formal sessions with informal community care, and helping maintain connection and momentum.

Validation Spaces & Feedback Structures

Robust feedback loops and support structures were a defining element of Phase I, ensuring that participants felt seen, heard, and supported throughout the process. 

1:1 check-in allowed for tailored support and surfaced process insights that were quickly integrated into facilitation. Communication via WhatsApp, email, and visual documentation helped participants stay engaged and informed, and build a sense of community.

The Red de Apoyo and Insights Network acted as validation spaces, bringing in external perspectives into the process, offering strategic feedback, surfacing tensions and opportunities, and contributing to both the legitimacy and refinement of the ideas. These networks also opened avenues for future collaboration, ensuring that learning extended beyond the cohort.

Ideas Developed

By the close of the Strategy Phase, each region had co-developed three collaborative prototypes:

• Europe:

  • Work Match – A platform that directly connects skilled migrants with forward-thinking employers.

  • Infrastructure for Collaboration – multi-stakeholder consortium that fosters unusual collaborations between the private sector, civil society, and policymakers.

• Latin America:

  • Skills Recognition System – A framework to validate informal and cross-border skills of migrants, facilitating the validation of qualifications and better job placement aligned with migrants' and refugees' abilities.

  • Innovative Employment Models – addressing access for migrants with irregular status.

  • Financial Tools for Migrant Women – tailored fintech and economic empowerment strategies for economic empowerment.

Key Community Learnings

This phase revealed the power of intentional community management and adaptive design.

Key learnings include:

• Relational work is strategic work. Emotional tone, check-ins, and rituals helped participants feel held and committed.

• In-person gatherings matter. These moments grounded purpose, trust, and legitimacy in ways that carried into the virtual process.

• Cohort leadership drives ownership. Empowering participants to hold space and elevate peer voices increased alignment and engagement.

• Flexibility is essential. Adapting formats, tools, and pacing to context, culture and communications styles, enabled deeper engagement, and allowed nuance to emerge and be honored.

• Design Cross-Regional Interactions Intentionally, as integral parts of the journey.

• Clarity and emergence must co-exist. Participants valued space for creativity and openness, while seeking stronger scaffolding from early on.

Cross-Regional Learning: A Late but Powerful Spark

Although Europe and Latin America worked in parallel throughout the first chapter, meaningful interaction between the cohorts was limited. From a Community Manager perspective, this wasn’t due to lack of interest—but to the practical challenge of introducing cross-regional moments in the midst of an intense and enrich process. Balancing timing, capacity, and participant focus made it difficult to bridge both journeys.

However, the first-ever joint learning session, held near the end of the phase, revealed the latent potential of cross-regional connection. Participants felt energized and surprised by the overlap in challenges and ideas—from financial inclusion and skills recognition to narrative change. They saw opportunities to translate solutions across contexts and even imagined shared infrastructures for learning and collaboration.

This experience reinforced a key learning: cross-regional exchange must be intentionally built into the design—not as an extra, but as a strategic space for solidarity, innovation, and systems-level insight.