Embodying change: Transforming power, culture and well-being for people in aid

Melissa speaks with Oge Chukwudozie about the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub’s exciting pilot project accompanying 10 local Nigerian organisations as they work to change their organisational cultures.  Oge emphasizes the value of cultivating a safe and supportive workplace culture and the importance of leadership “walking the talk.”  

Organisations often issue written policies without addressing the underlying social norms of the organisation that block the full implementation of these policies. A good place to start is for leaders to develop qualities like awareness, self-acceptance, empathy, curiosity in the face of criticism, and a learning mindset in the face of mistakes. Work relationships that are friendly and filled with laughter – rather than tension - can motivate and energise people to do their best work. Leaders who are nice are not necessarily weak. Mental health challenges and burnout are real. You want to ensure your staff are okay. 

Oge Chukwudozie is a safeguarding and protection professional with 18 years’ experience in the aid sector. She has worked with different organisations, including Africare, Christian Aid and Save the Children. Oge has experience in various thematic areas such as education, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and emergency response. She is currently the National Representative for the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH) Nigeria Hub. Her six-month pilot project is currently providing mentorship to 10 local Nigerian organisations to assess their organizational cultures, create a vision and prioritized action plan for change, track progress in reflection journals, and share learning with peers. 

To learn more, check out:

-       The Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH) website:

https://safeguardingsupporthub.org/

and Nigeria specific page:

https://nigeria.safeguardingsupporthub.org/

-       Twitter: @SafeguardingRSH  

-       LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/oge-chinenye-chukwudozie-96164a2b

***Thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa speaks with Dr. Gaya Gamhewage about her work in the world’s premier health organisation, the World Health Organisation (WHO), to prevent and response to sexual misconduct. 

They talk about the importance of leaders being vocal, explicit and sincere about their commitment to living the organisation’s values. They also surface a variety of tangible things organisations can do to reduce the exploitation of power, like:

-        admit when there are failures, even though it is uncomfortable

-        give immediate, timely and sustained support to victims and survivors, irrespective of the status of evidence and investigations

-        integrate and emphasize values in vacancy notices, hiring, inductions and trainings

-        ensure hires are screened, briefed, trained and sign a Code of Conduct

-        build confidence in systems for reporting and investigations by resourcing them and showing results (e.g. an open accessible dashboard on the website tracking complaints follow-up, timely investigations, and following through with disciplinary actions); 

-        prevent retaliation against those reporting misconduct, even the subtle forms (e.g. letting contracts expire)

-        create psychologically safe spaces to learn and speak up (e.g. upstander trainings as well as facilitating interactions between men and women, professionals and non-professionals, international and national staff)

-        obliging every team across the organisation to select a team objective related to values, and assessing progress at the end of the year.

Dr. Gaya Gamhewage is a medical doctor and public health expert with three decades of experience in the health sector. She has worked with the World Health Organization for over 20 years, mostly leading institutional capacity-building initiatives for health emergencies, including COVID-19 trainings. Since July 2021, she has been the Director a.i. for Prevention of and Response to Sexual Misconduct. Prior to this, Dr. Gamhewage was Head of Learning & Capacity Development for WHO's Health Emergencies Programme and worked in the Executive Director's Office where she introduced social learning for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Previously she led new areas of work for WHO including in health communications & behavioral change; risk communications & community engagement; and most recently, lifelong learning for health which included the development of the first-ever WHO Global Learning Strategy for Public Health. Dr Gamhewage has worked for national and international NGOs including the Save the Children UK and Norway, and was at the beginning of her career the Director of Community Health for Sarvodaya, a Sri Lankan NGO working in more than 15,000 villages. She holds two Masters Degrees in addition to her medical degree - in International Health and in International Policy-Making and Negotiation.

To learn more, check out:

-        WHO Director-General's opening remarks. The role of CSOs in the prevention, detection, and response to sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment – 26 April 2022. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks.-the-role-of-csos-in-the-prevention--detection--and-response-to-sexual-exploitation--abuse--and-harassment---26-april-2022 

-        Dotiv the Podcast, Episode 3: A journey from journalism to public health https://dotiv.life/dr-gaya-i-ep-3-a-journey-from-journalism-to-public-health/ 

-        Twitter: @GayaG 

-        LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gamhewage-gaya-36a1677

***Thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa speaks with Aseem Prakash and Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken about how governing boards of aid organisations can “govern well.” They discuss the power dynamics present in any group of humans, embracing difference and true diversity, prioritising lived experience, modelling behaviours, and asking smart questions.

Professor Prakash studies NGOs and nonprofits, and voluntary/private regulation, environmental policy and climate governance. He is a widely published author. He has a B.A. (Hons) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi in 1986 and MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1988. Since 2002, he has served on the faculty of the Department of Political Science at University of Washington, Seattle. He won the European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on Regulatory Governance's 2018 Regulatory Studies Development Award that recognises a senior scholar who has made notable "contributions to the field of regulatory governance." To learn more about Aseem, check out his website: http://aseemprakash.net. He edited a symposium for Regulation & Governance on Dysfunctional Institutions here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17485991/2016/10/2.

Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken is an experienced INGO and philanthropic actor-focused consultant, leadership development trainer, and coach, change management expert, author, evaluator, and analyst with strong knowledge of international development, civil society organizations, leadership development, organizational development/organizational change, social development and gender and leadership. Co-author of ‘Between Power and Irrelevance: the Future of Transnational NGOs’, with Hans Peter Schmitz and George Mitchell, and published by Oxford University Press (July 2020). Co-author of several academic articles in peer-reviewed journals; author of many practitioner-oriented reports, blog posts, and essays. Podcast host of ‘NGO Soul+Strategy’. To learn more about Tosca, check out her website: https://5oaksconsulting.org/about-tosca/ 

• Tosca’s essay on culture as an explainer for INGO scandals: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/npf-2019-0031/html?lang=en 
• Tosca’s essay for the CIVICUS State of Civil Society report related essay (2019): https://www.civicus.org/index.php/re-imagining-democracy/overviews/3371-internal-democracy-within-transnationally-operating-non-governmental-organisations-are-we-as-democratic-as-we-think
• And the episode featuring Tosca's and Aseem's conversation on the virtue narrative: https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/037-we-need-to-rethink-the-virtue-narrative/id1498390711?i=1000558519586 

Read the Governing Well report here: https://www.chsalliance.org/get-support/resource/governing-well/

***Thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

In this conversation, Melissa asks Dr. Emilia Roig, the author of the book "Why We Matter,"  about how power shows up in our work, her concept of “radical solidarity” and self care. 

Accountability has been defined in the latest version of the CHS guidance note as "the process of using power responsibly, taking account of, and being held accountable by, different stakeholders, and primarily those who are affected by the exercise of such power.”

Dr. Emilia Roig, author of “Why We Matter” explains in this Embodying Change episode that “a lot of people don't see power, and that's a problem. Because if you don't see power, then you cannot tackle power imbalances. What we need to do is to make it visible. And currently power is not visible.”

In this conversation, Melissa asks Dr. Emilia Roig about how power shows up in our work, her concept of “radical solidarity” and her thoughts on self care. 

Dr. Roig is a renowned social justice leader, author, and expert on intersectionality, diversity, equity, inclusion and non-discrimination. She created the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ) and published a book called “Why We Matter.” To learn more about Dr. Roig and her book check out her website at https://www.emiliaroig.com/ and Instagram feed at emiliazenzile. 

***Thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa talks about organisational culture with Umut Dilara Baycili, a child psychologist working for Mavi Kalem. This humanitarian NGO and CHS Alliance member supports women and children in Turkey with a team that includes doctors, psychologists, sociologists and social workers. 

It is not unusual for people working for NGOs like Mavi Kalem to experience stressful and traumatic situations. In addition, local and national NGOs often face an uphill battle in accessing sustainable funding. What can be done to support staff and treat them fairly and equitably (Commitment Eight of the Core Humanitarian Standard)?

Dilara gives examples of leadership recognizing and tapping into staff members’ inherent skills, prioritizing learning and skills development, non-hierarchical communication infused with empathic understanding, ritualised conversations about organisational culture, annual exchanges of personalised feedback, a pragmatic handling of mistakes, and a realistic setting of targets. 

To learn more about Mavi Kalem and Umut Dilara Baycili, check out:

·      Twitter: @Mavi Kalem

·      İnstagram: @mavikalemdernegi

·      Youtube: Mavi Kalem https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuxxdEqGpST00mS-5l-IVYA)

·      Web Site: https://www.mavikalem.org/

·      Mavi Kalem’s E-mail: [email protected]

·      Umut Dilara Baycılı’s E-mail: [email protected]

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa speaks with Dr. Liza Jachens, an occupational health psychologist, lecturer and research associate who has partnered with six major humanitarian organisations looking at their staff’s experience of work-related stress and its effects on their mental health.

Humanitarian work carries a “high emotional load” often exposed to trauma. Dr. Jachens has found that humanitarians are two to three times more likely to develop a mental illness (like anxiety, depression and PTSD) than the general population. This phenomenon is often more related to organisational stressors than to operational stressors. Experiences vary according to location, gender, professional status, and role – but everyone is affected in their own way. 

Dr. Jachens has noticed a reluctance of aid organsiations to share their mental health outcomes publicly, but she has also has seen the benefits when peers come together to compare notes, as many are facing common challenges endemic to the sector. Learning Mental Health First Aid is one way to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and practice having conversations with struggling colleagues. Some stress caused by organisational stressors can be addressed through the better design and management of the workload, including through techniques like job crafting. Ultimately, everyone should prioritise their own mental health and contribute to positive workplace environments. 

To learn more, check out:

-        Dr. Jachens’ publications at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Liza-Jachens

-        Mental Health First Aid resources at https://www.imogenwall.co.uk/training-courses and  https://www.ensa.swiss/en/

-        Information on job crafting at https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-job-crafting-looks-like 

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Shawna, Kristen and Rufaro tell the story of Root. Rise. Pollinate! and share learning from their experiment to shift culture through connecting inner and outer transformation.

Shawna Wakefield, Kristen Zimmerman and Rufaro Gwarada tell the story of Root. Rise. Pollinate! - informed by their previous experiences in aid and development. They share learning from their ongoing experiment to shift culture through connecting inner and outer transformation. They discuss practicing new ways of being and doing the work, counter-balancing harmful systems, accountability, responsibility and relationship, decision-making, inter-generational dialogue and much, much more.

Rufaro Gwarada is committed to gender justice, migrant rights, African-led solutions for Africans, and utilizing art and cultural expression as conduits for healing, liberation, and joy. Rufaro practices Zen Buddhism and grounds all she does in unhu/ubuntu – the understanding and way of life in which collective and individual well-being and thriving are one and the same. She co-founded ThriveAfrica.us and Wakanda Dream Lab and is a core-team member of Root. Rise. Pollinate!. Rufaro writes fiction investigating gender, power, and familial dynamics inspired by her homeland, Zimbabwe, is a Move to End Violence Movement Maker, and a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Citizenship Fellow.

Shawna Wakefield is a facilitator, consultant and women's rights advocate with 25 years of experience advancing gender, racial and economic justice internationally and in the U.S. She accompanies leaders and their social justice and movement building organizations in feminist leadership and building organisational cultures that embody care, justice, equity and inclusion. She is a practitioner of Buddhism, trauma-informed yoga and somatics, with training in respectful confrontation. She is a co-founder Root.Rise.Pollinate!, Associate with Gender at Work, and was formerly Senior Gender Justice Lead at Oxfam International. Shawna is committed to the healing, well-being and freedom of gender justice, Black, Indigenous and POC activists around the world.

Kristen Zimmerman is committed to a world rooted in our fundamental interdependence and collective thriving. She is an artist-storyteller, coach, strategist, and facilitator with 30 years’ experience integrating embodied and creative practice into movement building, community and social transformation work. She is the co-founder of Root. Rise. Pollinate! Movement Strategy Center, Youth In Focus, and Community LORE and she helped to design and launch projects including the Transitions Ini tiative, Move to End Violence, and Decolonize Race. She is a practitioner of Zen Buddhism and is currently working on a graphic novel that explores themes of home, belonging and cultivating family.

To learn more, check out:

• Their website: https://www.rootrisepollinate.us/
• Their blogs: https://medium.com/@rootrisepollinate 
• Reimagining Resilience: supporting feminist women to lead development with transformative practice ://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13552074.2020.1717198?journalCode=cgde20 
• Email them at [email protected]

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa and Brian Stout of Building Belonging discuss how transformation happens – for individuals, groups, societies and the planet. This includes inviting others to co-create compelling visions, holding space in containers with maximal diversity, stepping into our power and agency, and embodying the change we want with accountability, compassion, grace and challenge.

Brian Stout is the source for the emergent collaborative that has become Building Belonging. Drawn to mediation and social justice, he worked for anti-genocide civics organization Facing History and Ourselves in Boston. He pursued an MA in International Relations & Conflict Management at Johns Hopkins SAIS, before joining the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on conflict management and mitigation in East Africa, and the Middle East during the Arab Spring. After a detail to help launch the USAID Mission in Myanmar in 2012/2013, he joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. As the social movements he’d been looking for began to emerge (Occupy, the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock) he left in 2016 to explore the many tributaries that would ultimately become the source for Building Belonging. 

To learn more, check out:

Building Belonging

• website: https://www.buildingbelonging.us/
• medium: https://medium.com/@buildingbelonging 
• YouTube channel with conversations on transformation: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRrui9FZqM43NPfB5TFp0Ag

Thought leaders mentioned in this episode:

•  Mia Mingus’ on accountability: https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/dreaming-accountability-dreaming-a-returning-to-ourselves-and-each-other/
• Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy http://adriennemareebrown.net/tag/emergent-strategy/ 
• Donella Meadow’s work on finding places to intervene in a system: https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ 
• Shanelle Matthews on storytelling and persuasion for social good https://helloshanelle.com/ 
• Brené Brown’s podcast episode on feedback: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-barrett-guillen-on-the-hardest-feedback-ive-ever-received-part-1-of-2/ 
• AnaLouise Keating on Post-Oppositional Politics of Change https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=78atf8nh9780252037849 
• Teju Cole on the White-Savior Industrial Complex: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/ 
• Conflict Transformation and Belonging: https://medium.com/building-belonging/reflections-conflict-transformation-belonging-7ffabcd6d0c9 
• Brian Stout’s newsletter: https://citizenstout.substack.com/

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

This episode is dedicated to humanitarians around the world on World Humanitarian Day.

Melissa and Torrey Peace of Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast do a podcast exchange about people-centred leadership.

In this conversation they cover:

• The importance of empowering the people closest to the problem, as they know best how to solve those problems. This relates to high performing teams as well as to the localisation conversation.
• Three common limiting beliefs that hold leaders back and what to do about them: 

1. “Leaders always have to be available.” Actually, leaders are more effective when they – and their teams – schedule and protect regular, uninterrupted time for focused work.
2. “Leaders have to have all the answers.” On the contrary, no leader has all the answers. A coaching approach that supports individuals in solving their own problems can bring profound results to management relationships as well as partnerships. 
3. “Setting boundaries is selfish.” In reality, saying “no” when someone asks you to do something that doesn’t work for you or the organisation can protect the quality of work. It is okay to say no!

• Topics that are currently in demand in the aid sector from Torrey’s vantage point as a coach, podcast host, teacher and blogger:

1. Time management 
2. Well-being
3. How to set boundaries
4. How to be more inclusive
5. Decolonising aid and nationalising positions

• Creating cultures in which people and partners feel comfortable speaking up. 
  • Ask for feedback and take action on that feedback. We don’t have to call it feedback, as the word itself can be triggering, but consider methods from compassionate communication to connect and improve.
  • Make the organisation's values come alive by being clear on what they are and what they look like in action and revisiting them often.

With twelve years experience as a leader in international development Torrey facilitates rising and established leaders in the aid world to achieve optimal fulfillment in life and work through creative solutions that align with their organization’s values as well as their own. Torrey coaches leaders and shares learning through her blog, through a podcast, and through a digital course to teach  supervisors in international development how they can coach their teams. 

To learn more, check out:

-       Aid for Aid Workers: https://www.aidforaidworkers.com/ 

-       Write to her at [email protected] 

-       Check out these Aid for Aid Workers Leadership Podcast episodes:

• How to Measure Trust with Partners and Communities
• Is Your Leadership Style Preventing Community Engagement?
• A Case Study on Nationalizing Staff Positions and Lessons Learned
• Stop Being Inconsistent and Start Aligning Your Values to Your Actions in Aid Work
• The Leader’s Role in Promoting Well-being in Humanitarian Work

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. Thanks to ICVA for collaborating in this joint project engaging leaders. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***

Melissa talks with Paula Ramírez of Breathe International.

In their conversation they cover:

• Her journey from focusing on peacebuilding for nations to peacebuilding from within.
• The political aspect of being mindful and aware
• The body as a source of learning
• How to be a living example of mindfulness in the workplace
• The irony that humanitarian work usually doesn’t make space to get to know each other as humans
•  Examples and benefits of leaders and emergency responders introducing awareness into their work 

Paula believes in the pivotal importance of promoting self-care for humanitarian actors. Studying anthropology and experiencing an auto-immune illness, she started to be curious about ways in which human beings can build peace from within, and how resilience and healing could be inspired and guided through the body. Paula has been co-directing RESPIRA since 2013, working closely with teachers and survivors of torture, GBV and landmines in Colombia, South Sudan and Bangladesh. She is an MBSR-Teacher from the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY)-Facilitator from the Trauma Center.

To learn more, check out:

• Breathe International at https://breathe.international/
• Respira en Colombia: https://respira.co/ 

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. Thanks to ICVA for collaborating in this joint project engaging leaders. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***