The term and original concept for AB was created by Global Gain’s Executive Director Nathan Cryder. However, to stay true to his vision of a social sector that fully leverages the power of existing ideas and the untapped collective wisdom of people globally, Cryder hopes and expects the AB framework and tools to soon become a collective effort. The BETA version of AB was released to a group of Ashoka Fellows in New Delhi on Sep. 17-18, 2007. Several of these Fellows are currently applying the AB framework and tools to their scaling efforts, so the collective feedback from firsthand experiences will be invaluable in creating what Global Gain will call AB 1.0. To elicit and discuss this feedback, we have set up a wiki and discussion group at the following links.

www.ned.com/group/ab
www.ned.com/group/ab/ws

Our aim is to publish AB 1.0 in book and workbook format in late 2008 after incorporating the feedback of everyone who’s had the opportunity to try AB firsthand. In keeping with our open-source philosophy, we have no intention of treating the AB framework and tools as intellectual property. To the contrary, we hope anyone who finds AB useful will apply it to their work and share your experiences with us so we can continue to make the tools and framework even stronger.