The international social impact sector is made up of thousands of organisations and countless employees all working towards the same thing: a world in which everyone has their needs met, is free to express themselves, and is able to participate fully in society.

Sophia Seawell is a feminist communications professional, consultant and writer. She currently works at FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders, a Berlin-based initiative to accelerate intersectional gender equity in the international social impact sector.

The international social impact sector is made up of thousands of organisations and countless employees all working towards the same thing: a world in which everyone has their needs met, is free to express themselves, and is able to participate fully in society.

But if you work in the sector, you’re probably all too familiar with the ways in which it can fall short when it comes to upholding these goals and values internally. For example, as the FAIR SHARE Monitor shows, women aren’t equitably represented in leadership positions; and, especially since the Black Lives Matter reckoning of 2020, there are increasing reports of and reflections on the structural racism of the sector.

Maybe you feel moved to address these issues within your own organisation, or maybe you want to introduce a new way of working in line with organisational values and aims, like a co-leadership role or a participatory decision-making process. So what can you do to advocate for change in your workplace?

• Find your people

This is the first step for a reason: not only can taking on a big change by yourself become mentally and logistically challenging, but your efforts will likely be less likely to succeed and less impactful if you don’t involve the other people it affects. Talk to your co-workers, ask about how they feel, and find out who has the interest and energy to drive this change together; multiple and varying perspectives are going to be a huge asset. Plus, you need all the connections you can get – maybe your colleague over in Communications has a strong relationship with a manager whose support you need. Which brings us to our next point…

• Gather data

History is full of examples of powerful, bottom-up change. But we also know that often, we do need people in power to acknowledge the problem and be convinced to act. Whether that’s a CEO or HR Officer, be prepared to give evidence for the matter at hand. Whatever that problem or proposal is, gather as much data as you can, both quantitative and qualitative: for example, can you find reports and articles that illustrate growing scrutiny of the issue you’re tackling? How many of your peer organisations have a public diversity policy that yours is lacking? How many people representing the community you aim to serve work at your organisation, and how many make it to senior management? Do your homework and make your case.

• Don’t reinvent the wheel

Chances are, you aren’t the first person to try what you’re exploring – so the good news is, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. That’s the main piece of advice from Dona Anyona,  Technical Lead Gender Equality and Social Inclusion at Amref Health Africa, in our latest publication “Leading for Change: Case studies from organisations committed to gender equality.” Reach out to contacts in your network to ask how they’ve dealt with a particular issue. Or if there’s an organisation you don’t have contact with but who has pioneered an initiative that inspires you, just reach out! (Tip: they might even have some resources already available, like Restless Development’s podcast on their co-leadership pilot, which they also discuss in Leading for Change).

• Start the conversation

An equally valuable and important part of this process, in addition to the outcome, is the conversations you’ll have along the way. How you have these conversations – establishing trust, making sure the relevant people and groups are represented, and not shying away from discomfort – can lay a foundation for a healthier organisational culture where people can feel confident that their concerns or ideas will be taken seriously. The FAIR SHARE Action Circle, six intersectional feminist leadership from around the world, put together a toolkit with prompts to help create the kinds of spaces where these challenging and fruitful conversations can happen.

In conclusion…

There’s a gap between what the sector aims to achieve externally and how many organisations operate internally – a gap which can affect the quality of an organisation’s work and the wellbeing of its staff. Let the steps above guide you as you advocate for the change your organisation needs. And at some point, make sure to share what you learned with others! We need more role models and examples for transformative organisational change – and you can be one of them.  

To share your experience with us, get in touch via [email protected]