Sher joined MIT D-Lab in 2013 under a $25M USAID cooperative agreement with a mandate to scale its volunteer-led International Development Design Summit model from one annual event to a sustained, globally distributed and locally-led portfolio that would build out and strengthen the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN). In consultation with pre-existing volunteers and faculty from 7 universities around the globe, Sher designed and facilitated an annual RFP process to grant $1.5M funding to local organizing teams, selected and trained 17 local leadership teams, facilitated the annual IDDS participant application and selection process, and built the IDDS governance infrastructure — including the IDDS Steering Committee — from the ground up, enabling local organizers across the Global South to host community-based summits. Each summit brought together roughly 50 selected participants from academia, government, business, foundations, and local community groups — working in multidisciplinary teams alongside community leaders to frame local challenges and co-create low-cost, locally-relevant technology solutions.

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It was through this work that Sher developed deep, ongoing partnerships with Diversa and Link4 — two organizations whose teams hosted multiple IDDSes and whose facilitators she continues to collaborate with to date. 

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Over five years, the program grew to 17 International summits across 10+ countries — including Zambia, Tanzania, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Botswana, Uganda, Thailand, Pakistan, and India — welcoming 800+ new network members from 70+ countries and producing 300+ technology and enterprise prototypes that went on to reach over 500,000+ people. The 1,000+ member IDIN alumni network and the IDDS Steering Committee Sher established continue to operate independently today.​​