ABSTRACT
The action lessons learned from this study we direct to two audiences: international donors and managers of NGOs. For the former, the major lesson is to fund a group of NGOs with an NCO that produces benefits that can create an Archimedean lever. For the latter, the major lessons are that many strategies or combinations are functional equivalents; it is useful to emphasize social capital in the formation of health groups whether councils or women’s groups as well as visits; one has to use different strategies for different objectives; and it is easier to change behavior than knowledge. The theoretical contributions address four different literatures: inter-organizational theory, organizational change, institutional change and equality in public health. Essentially SCIONs produce the rapid organizational adaptiveness that improves equality in public health and, as a bonus, institutional innovation in the system in which the SCION is embedded.
