Atlanta, Ga., November 24, 2025—CARE and Trickle Up today announced the launch of a new tool designed to measure women’s digital agency – their ability to confidently use technology, make informed digital decisions, and shape their own online opportunities. Digital agency is an essential but often overlooked element of digital inclusion. While global efforts to track digital access have long focused on who has a phone or gets online, far less attention has gone to whether women have the autonomy, confidence, and power to use digital tools to advance their goals.
The new Digital Agency Measurement Framework developed by CARE and Trickle Up aims to change that. By helping organizations understand not just access, but agency, the tool will strengthen the way digital inclusion programs are planned and delivered, support women’s choices, and shape policies that move beyond connectivity toward meaningful inclusion.
The effort is part of CARE’s Digital Impact Hub, which expands the benefits of technology to people living in poverty and crisis to ensure that digital tools advance opportunity rather than deepen inequalities. Trickle Up, an international nonprofit that partners with women living in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and inclusion, is co-leading the initiative. Together, Trickle Up and CARE are bringing the concept of digital agency to life through clear, practical indicators that reflect women’s real experiences.
The model takes a step-by-step view of digital empowerment: beginning with access and connectivity; then progressing to digital skills, confidence, control; and ultimately the ability to use technology to improve lives and livelihoods.
In 2026, the two organizations will pilot the tool across programs in South Asia, Latin America, and Africa. These pilots will help refine measurable criteria so the tool is rigorous, adaptable, and useful across diverse contexts. The goal is to build a widely applicable resource that NGOs, governments, and donors can use to measure not just whether women are connected – but whether they are truly empowered – and to link those measures to economic inclusion outcomes.
Christian Pennotti, Managing Director of CARE’s Digital Impact Hub, highlighted the urgency of this work:
Every day, we see a hunger for information and opportunity in the people we serve—from health workers in the Philippines walking miles to find an internet hotspot, to women entrepreneurs in Peru taking online courses late at night, to families in crisis relying on mobile phones as a lifeline back home.
Despite unprecedented digital opportunity, billions remain offline or only marginally connected. Ensuring that everyone has not just access, but the skills, confidence, and agency to pursue their goals online is central to CARE’s mission.
We’re proud to partner with Trickle Up to develop tools that help us understand where participants thrive and where they struggle—so we can better align support with their goals, accelerate progress, and improve impact.
Trickle Up and CARE are inviting peer organizations, donors, and researchers to join this effort: sharing data, testing indicators, and strengthening the approach together. By combining insights from implementation and research, the organizations aim to build a credible, practical, and widely shared public good that advances equality in the digital age.
For media inquiries, email usa.media@care.org.