Collaborative knowledge and professional integration
Our standards are built through working groups of practitioners. No single organisation owns them.
About
About the Alliance of Development Practitioners
An independent, non-commercial professional body for the international development sector — developing open standards, accrediting trainers, and certifying practitioners across the field.
Who we are
The Alliance of Development Practitioners (ADP) is an independent, non-commercial professional body. We serve as a global reference body for the qualification and accreditation of professionals working in the development and social innovation sectors.
We exist because the development sector lacks the kind of professional qualification infrastructure that exists in adjacent fields — project management, public health, accounting. Practitioners working on the world’s most consequential challenges deserve clear standards, credible certification, and open access to the methodologies they use.
Our mission
ADP exists to qualify and accredit professionals working in the development sector. We co-create certifications and open knowledge resources in partnership with practitioners and subject-matter experts worldwide.
Our vision
We believe that meaningful development starts with specialisation, grows through partnership, and is achieved through excellence.
Our values
Development-focused specialisation and innovation
We develop standards specific to development-sector work, not generic frameworks adapted from elsewhere.
Global, multicultural knowledge contribution
Our work is shaped by contributors across regions, languages, and institutional contexts.
Open access and knowledge freedom
Our reference materials are published under Creative Commons licenses. Anyone can read, use, and adapt them.
How we work
ADP operates with a deliberate separation of roles to safeguard independence:
ADP
Develops the standards, publishes the reference materials, accredits trainers.
certN
Delivers the examinations and assesses candidates independently.
Accredited trainers
Prepare candidates for the exam, as independent professionals or organisations.
This structure means no single party controls the full chain from learning to certification. Standards are open, exams are administered by a third party, and training is delivered by a distributed network of accredited practitioners.
certN is ADP’s independent examination partner. The partnership is structural: ADP develops the standard and approves the assessment specification.
Governance
ADP is governed by a board of practitioners and operates under a published constitution. Standards are developed through open working groups with public comment periods. We do not deliver training or sell exams, which ensures our independence from commercial interests in either. Our funding comes from trainer accreditation fees and, where appropriate, grants from foundations supporting open-knowledge infrastructure.
Where we’re based
ADP is registered in Belgium. Our registered address and contact information are on the Contact page.