Celebrating 3 Years of Systems Change, EDI and Learning

We are celebrating the completion of three years in business! What a privilege and joy to have the opportunity to do so.

It has been amazing to be able to do more on systems change and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for a wide range of projects and clients. Here are some highlights:

• We evaluated the first positive action programme at The Wellcome Sanger Institute for Black heritage academics in the UK. There was a strong focus on EDI, on learning what worked for both successful and unsuccessful applicants and from the use of more inclusive and equitable application criteria and selection processes. We also co-developed a learning brief to support and influence others.

• We worked with The School of Systems Change and a small group of people for six months, discussing what type of monitoring, evaluation and learning could better support systems change funding and practice. My thoughts and recommendations are published here. These insights are the focus of two sessions at the 15^th European Evaluation Society’s Biennial Conference in Italy.

• Mongabay, an INGO focused on conservation and planetary issues, hired us to develop their new 2023-2030 strategy – including a new organisational vision and mission – and its accompanying implementation plan. Six months later, after getting certified to use the Ford’s Foundation Organisational Mapping Tool, I conducted a participatory organisational assessment to inform Mongabay’s organisational change and development plans.

• We provided tailored training to The City Bridge Foundation’s funding committee (their executive group) and their fund managers on systems thinking – with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We also delivered tailored training to The Health Foundation’s research team on impact – with a focus on knowledge management, partnerships and EDI.

As usual, there is much to learn but here are three main takeaways:

1. The need to be truly relational

Being transactional is easy, particularly for independent consultants and organisations. But I feel the need to prioritise and nurture genuine connections and partnerships.

I often invest time engaging with past and new colleagues, clients, partners and consultants – not for business development but to get to know them personally, out of a genuine interest in them and our relationship. I have been particularly humbled when some of them have reached out for advice as they consider giving consulting a go, and most recently I started to coach and mentor, pro-bono, an amazing mid-career woman with huge potential and a bright future in sight.

Building relationships that are supportive and honest makes a difference in the enjoyment I get out of work and life, and I can also see the difference it makes in the final product – delivering more value to all.

2. Speaking truth to power

Our work in equity, diversity and inclusion is not easy. Often, we have to speak truth to power and deliver challenging messages to organisations and people – some are our clients, some are professional associations we associate with and others are business partners we collaborate with.  

A strong focus on ethics and caring has been key to our success and the impact we have contributed to. This means framing issues along ethical and human-centred principles and finding realistic and actionable solutions for transformation. Increasingly I also find myself reassuring people that there is no perfect and that this is a long-term journey of learning and improving.

2. Audio-visuals with purpose

Earlier this year we produced two videos for Paul Hamlyn Foundation, as part of a portfolio evaluation, allowing the voices of two great organisations and the people they serve to tell their own stories and what matters to them.

Take a look at this video to see what equity, diversity & inclusiveness (EDI) looks like in the arts, migration and cultural change space. Or this video to engage with equity, respect and love for care and experience people.

There is power in giving space to non-white and dominant individuals and communities to share their unscripted stories of change, and to use them as valuable evidence when assessing impact.