NGO Soul + Strategy

Summary

What are some structural things that are wrong in development aid and in civil society?

Which mindsets most need to be decolonized when it comes to the relationship between global South civil society organizations (CSOs) and INGOs?

Global North-founded INGOs need to be reimagined. How, in turn, do global South-founded NGOs have to change to take over many roles that INGOs currently still fulfill? And how do they need to recalibrate their power relationships with INGOs?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Charles Kojo Vandyck, a development practitioner based in Ghana, a leader at the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), and a thinker on alternatives to development and alternatives to  INGO models.

Charles’ Bio:

• Development practitioner, based in Ghana, who is on a mission to drive transformative change within civil society
• Head of the Capacity Development Unit at the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)
• Core team member, RINGO project – Reimagining International NGOs 
• Founding Member of the International Consortium on Closing Civic Space (iCon)
• Trustee of INTRAC and an Advisory Board Member of Disrupt Development
• Host of the podcast Alternative Convos, which focuses on social cohesion as well as social change in Africa. You can find Alternative Convos on Spotify

We discuss: 

• The West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI), based in Accra/Ghana, is a regional organization focused on civil society support and institutional strengthening
• RINGO project: the Reimaging the INGO project is a collaborative global project among civil society leaders to prototype new models of INGOs that shift power to the global South and equalize relationships between global South and global North NGOs as well as funders
• According to Charles, here are some of the problems with current models of development and aid architecture: a projectized approach to development;  local expertise of people is insufficiently recognized in project design; the ad-hoc and short-term nature of money flows; the presence of dependency cultures; lack of asset-based models to development (instead of  deficit-based ones)
• The policies and ways of working of INGOs have to be part of what needs to shift
• The RINGO project helps to identify areas of stuckness and develop prototypes for alternatives
• The hardest nuts to crack within the RINGO project are related to structural racism
• Global South NGOs also need to change their models: they need to invest more in talent development and succession planning, to help generational shift from founders to successors; develop their skills in intersectoral as well as intersectional approaches to development; and invest in technology skills.

Resources:

Charles’ LinkedIn Profile

Podcast Alternative Convos – on Spotify

WACSI Website

Reimagining the INGO Website

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

Leadership transitions are tricky -- and potentially risky -- moments in a nonprofit's life. What are the most common pitfalls or aspects that get overlooked when nonprofits -- and outgoing leaders themselves -- tackle such leadership transitions?

What key strategies and tactics are essential to ensure a smooth leadership transition and maintain organizational stability?

What are the habits, practices, and behaviors that are most aligned with a successful exit of an Executive Director?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Ignacio Saiz,  who transitioned out of the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) some 2 years ago, on the right way to do this.

Ignacio’s Bio:

• Senior Advisor on Human Rights, Economic Justice, and Strategic Leadership
• Former Executive Director at the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR)
• Ignacio also held various managerial and leadership roles at Amnesty International, including Director of Policy Programs, Deputy Director for the Americas, and other roles

We discuss: 

• How planned transitions should be seen as an opportunity
• Written transition plans help in avoiding miscommunication, and in allocating clear roles and responsibilities for how to deal with the transition, while clarifying the timeline as well
• A comprehensive communication strategy is vital: outwards (towards donors/funders, peers/partners), as well as inwards (towards staff, board, advisory councils, volunteers etc.)
• Participation of staff is vital. One mechanism can be representation of 1-2 staff in the Board recruitment committee, as long as the organization is  very clear though about staff's decision rights vis-a-vis  the selection of the successor 
• Outgoing leaders often underestimate the anxiety that may occur among staff and some board members -- especially if their  tenure has been long
• Whether the outgoing leader plays any role in the organization beyond their tenure is a very tricky and highly contextualized  decision, and needs to be carefully negotiated between the outgoing and incoming leaders. Most importantly, this must be completely steered by the needs and preferences of the incoming leader.

Quotes:

• “Boards need to realize top leadership transition involves more than a recruitment”
• “Planned leadership transitions should be seen as a shared opportunity, not a cause for concern”
• “Transition takes at least two years, and has to include the transition-in period when the incoming leader needs active support”

Resources:

Ignacio’s LinkedIn Profile

Ignacio's blog post on the matter (note links at the end to two good additional resources)

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

What should I imagine, practically, when a team coach starts to support my team?

What does a well-known team coach find the most rewarding about working with nonprofit teams?

Can a team coach detect any differences in team behaviors or tendencies between their for-profit and nonprofit clients? 

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Alexander Caillet, CEO and co-founder of Corentus, Inc., on all of the above questions,  including how to navigate team behaviors when it comes to organizational politics as well as decision-making. 

His answers may surprise you!

Alexander’s Bio:

·       CEO and co-founder of Corentus, Inc.

·       Adjunct professor at Georgetown University,  in its Leadership Coaching Certificate Program

·       Alexander also worked at other coaching and consulting companies

·       His education is in Organizational Psychology

We discuss: 

• Corentus’ vision: thriving, high-performing teams that result in a sustainable and harmonious future
• What differentiates Corentus’ approach to team coaching from other approaches is its blending of team coaching with team facilitation, training, and consulting 
• Alexander is one of the pioneers in the relatively new field of team coaching
• The various stages of a team coaching engagement
• Corentus has worked with a range of nonprofits: Save the Children, Oxfam, Technoserve, Syngenta Foundation, AIPP, and others.
• Alexander observes interesting differences in what pre-occupies teams in the for-profit and nonprofit space, respectively. They relate to themes such as productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness of processes, as well as decisiveness
• He also observes differences in terms of a greater focus on achieving consensus or even unanimity in the nonprofit sphere, rather than using decision-making methods such as voting, delegation, and authority with consultation.

Quotes:

“I was surprised to encounter issues of hierarchy, power, DEI, and dysfunction in the nonprofit sector, I had not expected these as much in this sector”

Resources:

Alexander’s LinkedIn Profile

Corentus Website

Corentus Email

Info on Corentus' offer on Low bono / Pro bono team coaching opportunity

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

What is the state of DEI in US-founded international development organisations (both for-profit and nonprofit), and how has this state changed since 2021? 

 What has been the action, as compared to the professed intentions for action?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Shiro Gnanaselvam, President and CEO at Social Impact, on DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) trends in US Development agencies.

Shiro’s Bio:

• CEO of Social Impact, a US-based mid-size consulting company that offers MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) services to the international development sector
• Former EVP and COO of Social Impact
• COO of AfriCare, largest and oldest African-American founded international NGO focused exclusively on the continent of Africa.
• Senior Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Millenium Challenge Corporation

We discuss: 

• Racial and ethnic minorities remain under-represented in positions of power
• The global development sector remains predominantly white and female, including at the top
• Disability reporting shows signs of greater awareness
• Organizations have invested in establishing governance structures for DEI: policies, strategies and staff with dedicated responsibilities as well as collective staff bodies (DEI councils etc.)There are modest improvements in how diversity data are captured
• Commitment to DEI remains, but competing priorities and resource limitations are a severe impediment to progress
• There are tensions between global DEO, localization and domestic DEI that need to be resolved – but also many points of similarity

Resources:

Shiro’s LinkedIn Profile

Social Impact website

Social Impact’s blog post on overall survey results

Social Impact blog post on 7 actions the US development sector must take

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

What is life after leadership like?

What happens to you as a person when you leave a high-powered, highly visible role in civil society?

What happens with your sense of identity? Does this also perhaps touch on ego as well?

What offers new meaning and purpose, when we live our life-after-leadership?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Sam Worthington, former President and CEO at InterAction, who stepped down from a position with much positional as well as symbolic power just about a year ago. 

Sam’s Bio:

• Executive coach, board member and advocate
• Former President and CEO of InterAction – 16 years
• Former President and CEO of Plan International USA
• Executive Director at Delphi International

We discuss: 

• In the months before you leave your leadership job, expect that the extent to which your colleagues still want you to make decisions on important things will rapidly decline
• In Sam’s case, the sense of loss that was involved was not about loss of power (since he’d experienced positional power  for a few decades),  but was about loss  of the comradery that former colleagues and peers used to provide
• You can partially fill this void by offering (informal) coaching to new incoming CEOs for instance.
• Life after leadership does mean you can move more from doing to being; you can be more present now
• Sometimes leaders, once they retire, still are called to speak in global gatherings based on their reputation, their personal brand
• Our knowledge which we can still contribute now is the synthesized wisdom of decades of experience
• Sam is writing a book to look back on everything he learned, his views on the sector, and what gives him hope -- follow him on LinkedIn to stay tuned!

Quotes:

• “The transition is about having been the village chief before; now, I am no longer in the village”

• “My public persona never was my identity”

Resources:

Sam’s LinkedIn Profile

Book David Brooks, From Strength to Strength

Essay by David Brooks in The Atlantic: The New Old Age (gated)

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

What is scaling? And how is it different from growing?

What’s the role of partner strategies or multiplier strategies in scaling?

What are the implications of scaling in an era of decolonizing aid, localizing development, and shifting roles of nonprofits and NGOs, shifting power, authority and decision rights?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Amy Ragsdale, Director at Spring Impact, a consulting, coaching and training agency specializing in scaling strategiesfor mission-focused organizations, on how to navigate the big scaling quandary.

Amy’s Bio:

• Director at Spring Impact
• Senior Consultant at Capgemini Consulting 
• Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences

We discuss: 

• Spring Impact offers coaching, consulting services, and training for mission-focused organizations keen to scale their impact
• Growing the size of an organization or solution means increasing its revenue and/or impact at the same rate as adding resources to an organization. Scaling means you are impacting a societal problem at a larger scale, by increasing impact exponentially, while adding resources incrementally
• Central questions to ask: 1/ What are we scaling?; 2/ Where are we scaling?; 3/ Who will do the scaling? Who are the ‘doers’? Who are the ‘payers’?
• The following attributes of the organizational culture of social mission organizations act as enablers for scaling success: 1/openness to failure; 2/ an ability to hold our hypothesis on what works lightly; 3/ a realization that invention is not the same as innovation!
• The following leadership mindsets are enablers as well: 1/ clarity whether your org is pursuing growth or impact; 2/ staying committed to the problem (NOT the solution); 3/ being collaborative by default
• Financial sustainability models underpinning scaling strategies: examples can be government funding; earned income revenue; fee for service; advertising - and more

Quotes:

“Scaling is not the same as growing. The two are often confused. ”

“Invention is not the same as innovation! (the latter involves testing and learning)”

Resources:

Amy’s LinkedIn Profile

Website of Spring Impact

Podcast Mission to Scale

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

What are the vital steps a senior leader have to take as they step into a new leadership role? What to do and what to expect when you are transitioning into that new role?

And, separately, to what extent are African leadership models and frameworks  different from global North ones?  Most importantly, what could global North imprinted leadership models learn from African ones? 

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Adama Coulibaly, Global Programs Director at Oxfam, on both these topics. He is a very experienced NGO leader, a coach, and an eloquent thinker and author on all things leadership. And he just transitioned into his new role at Oxfam, so he is here to speak from experience!

Adama’s Bio:

• A seasoned leader with nearly 30 years of experience in international development and humanitarian aid
• Global Programs Director, Oxfam International; earlier in his career he was also a Regional Director at Oxfam
•  Leadership positions as Country Director at the International Rescue Committee, Regional Director at Plan International, and Principal Adviser at UNICEF
• Certified Transformational coach, and somebody who labels himself a 'positive thinker'

We discuss: 

1. His advice to leaders who are transitioning into an organization, based on his own experience

1. What differentiates African takes on leadership models and frameworks, as distinct from global North imprinted models?

• Adama Coulibaly (nickname ‘Coul’) considers himself a born positive thinker; he learned this behavior in his youth while facing very difficult circumstances in his home country Mali
• As an adult, he learned about the field of positive thinking; and that positive thinking is good for your physical and mental health
• Coul’s advice, in a nut shell, on how to transition into a new senior leadership position:

Give yourself at least 2, if not 4 weeks between two jobs

Use your break time to learn as much about your new organization as you can

Communicate healthy boundaries immediately, otherwise, you will pay a stiff price

Build on what works; don’t feel the need to change everything or most things

Prioritize external engagement, insist on it, and commit to external engagements so that your calendar time for this is protected

• On African models of leadership: they tend to focus on the collective nature of people: the person in the context of their community (see for instance the Ubuntu model)

Quotes:

• “Positive thinking is not about utopia: I call myself a realistic positive thinker. There are a lot of negative things in the world. It is about how we balance negative and positive things”

• “If you have a weak transitioning period, you set yourself up for failure”

• “As soon as you enter the door, you have to problem solve, there is no honeymoon for senior leaders”

Resources:

Adama’s LinkedIn Profile

Positive minds, a pro bono consulting, coaching, and mentoring group (see also Coul’s blog on this site)

Coul’s blog post about leadership transition

YouTube video of this podcast&a

Summary

What should we think of when we consider organization integrity issues?

How do you distinguish between positive and negative forms of power?

How do we nurture power for organizational integrity? 

These are the fairly complex questions that we address in the podcast today.

In this NGO Soul+Strategy  episode, I interview Bhavika Patel, Senior Adviser for Equalities and Inclusion at Oxfam Great Britain, and Alex Cole-Hamilton, independent consultant and one of the founders of the Power and Integrity Initiative, on their work on positive power for organizational integrity.

Bhavika’s Bio:

• Currently the Senior Adviser for Equalities and Inclusion at Oxfam
• Brings HR, culture, and EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) experience,  with practical experience in understanding power in relation to EDI and organizational ways of working
• Led on HR issues in Oxfam, and has been a Talent Advisor at UNICEF
• MSC in applied positive coaching psychology

 
Alex’s Bio:

• Independent consultant, advising boards and executives on ethics and integrity risks and related decision-making frameworks
• Former head of Ethics and Compliance, Oxfam Great Britain
• Former head of Corporate Responsibility, Oxfam
• Former ethical trade project manager, The Body Shop

We discuss: 

• The Power & Integrity Initiative is focused on UK-specific agencies; it aims to complement, but not overlap, with other ongoing activities, such as the RINGO project, Pledge4Change, #ShiftThePower etc.
• Concrete examples of measures and policy areas related to organizational integrity: safeguarding, anti-racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), environmental sustainability practices, anti-corruption
• How is power perceived in general?  And in our sector?
• How can integrity be understood more holistically, going beyond the classical interpretation of ethics, to look at people's behavior and organizational behavior in relationship to each other?
• The initiative just went through several Labs to pilot getting to a shared understanding of what power is (not easy!); their write-up on what was learned will be published in late 2023
• Positive power as a concept comes out of the thinking on transformative power, led by Srilatha Batliwala and others at CREA. It also builds on notions of power with, power within, power for and not just power over (hierarchical or positional or coercive power)
• Even if power is used with good intention by (in)formal leaders in our sector, whether we like it or not, the impact of white-normed organizational systems and processes is not neutral

Resources:

Website of Power & Integrity

Alex’s Website

Bhavika’s LinkedIn Profile

Alex’s LinkedIn Profile

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

How can the feelings of people who work in organizations both facilitate and suppress change?

What makes people attach reputation and credibility to another person? And how does this relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and these may work out in practice?

What's the problem with think tanks from the perspective of a decolonization goal, and what has been the problem historically?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Ajoy Datta,  consultant, policy researcher, and coach, on decolonizing think tanks, policy research organizations, and consulting agencies.

Ajoy’s Bio:

• Independent consultant
• Over 20 years of experience in the global development and humanitarian sector
• Supports leaders, teams, organizations, and networks to collaborate, perform better, learn, innovate, and change
• Performs designing, monitoring, and evaluating work to engage with and influence policy and practice as well as strengthen decision-making systems
• Worked 12 years at the Overseas Development Institute (DI)'s research and policy unit
• Worked 3 years at the On Think Tanks (OTT) consulting group
• Started at VSO, the British volunteer agency, in Zambia

We discuss: 

• The useful role of psychodynamics in organizational development: what goes on in our minds, consciously and unconsciously, while working in organizations. Some of these feelings are suppressed and below the surface
• Decolonizing organizations means that we aim to do away with hundreds of years of Western, global North power, such as philosophical underpinnings, concepts, frameworks, assumptions, knowledge systems, and leadership profiles. 
• When organizations recruit people who are dissimilar in demographic or experiential profile from those that were thus far considered the 'norm',  the 'default' -- if their organizational culture, expectations towards staff, and org systems don’t adapt to these new profiles, tension will be the result. These people will be at higher risk of either leaving or being ‘spit out’
• The phenomenon of the glass cliff: when people with demographic profiles different from what was the norm thus far are recruited to high-risk leadership positions, and then fail. 
• What to do about all of this? 1/ Name and acknowledge what is happening. If we fear talking about it, it will never be addressed; 2/ “decriminalize bias"; 3/ create a safe container for discussion; 4/ communicate externally but also internally

Resources:

Ajoy’s LinkedIn profile

Ajoy’s Medium blog posts

Ajoy’s Website

Sample blog posts: 1, 2

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

How should we think about the  ‘collective journey to equitable development’ of Northern-founded NGOs, national NGOs and their funders?

What obstacles stand in the way of continuing on that journey? 

Why does Humentum argue that NGO operating models need to enable  ERA (Equitable, Resilient, and Accountable) development, and how does that need to come about?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Kim Kucinskas, Director for Community Strategy at Humentum, on nonprofit operations as a driver of transformation.

Kim’s Bio:

• Director, Community Strategy, Humentum
• Director, Member Engagement and Services, Huentum
• Several other roles in Humentum since 2012
• Worked in Namibia on issues related to local epidemics
• Fundraising role at the International Institute for Cooperation and Development

We discuss: 

• The pressure is building for significant change in the northern INGO sector; it’s coming from all frontiers
• There is actual strategic power in the operations model; if we change it in a significant way, big change happens in the power distribution between northern INGOs, funders, and national NGOs
• Humentum argues this in their new 3-part series of reports on ERA: how to move to an Equitable (E), Resilient (R) and Accountable (A) development sector
• But this will only happen if northern INGOs, funders, and national NGOs make significant changes in their institutional architecture, people and culture, funding, and  risk frameworks
• Institutional Architecture is one of Humentum's main building blocks towards ERA: within this, organizations have to have sufficient autonomy for the sector to be able to be equitable, resilient, and accountable
• People and Culture: who is recruited, and works where; a shift in the ‘headquarters’ concept from one that is location-based to role-based; where staff receive fair and equitable compensation, etc.
• Funding: the islands of innovation that are happening in various places need to become ‘mainland’
• Accountability, with a focus on risk management: within this, a shift from risk transfer to risk sharing is required
• Be mindful: the way in which the process of #shiftthepower is happening is actually reflective of the very ways in which power is still being held right now.

Quotes:

“There is strategic value and potential in operations; not as “back-office functions” but as drivers of transformation”

“We are at a tipping point in terms of significant NGO sector change”

Resources:

Kim’s LinkedIn profile

Kim’s Email

Humentum's ERA reports

YouTube video of this podcast

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Summary

How does a climate change activist movement such as Extinction Rebellion (XR) chose among strategies and tactics on the spectrum between more 'radical' actions such as civic agitation, (nonviolent) disobedience, high-profile stunts that may lead to arrests and more 'mainstream' actions that may (or may not?) help them build a more broad public base?

How does Extinction Rebellion (XR) see the distinction between insider and outsider strategies in climate change activism?

Is it necessarily the case that 'radical 'activism by nature is cyclical, i.e. that it cannot be maintained on a long-term basis because of the intensity of this activism model?

And how does Extinction Rebellion deal with internal as well as external equity dimensions of the fact that low-income people and/or those who face discrimination tend to get hit harder by the impacts of climate change? 

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview a youth activist in the Netherlands (my original home country), on how she sees Extinction Rebellion tackle all these choices and trade-offs. 

Bio of the youth activist X:

• Student at Erasmus University College, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 
• Involved for the last year, 4-5 hours/week

 
We discuss: 

• How climate change fights and climate justice issues need to be interlinked to both benefit from sustained civic action
• The nature of the three global XR  demands: 1/ Tell the Truth; /2. Act Now; 3/ Decide together
• How environmental activism in the global south has a history of white elite-level advantage, how it rightfully has been critiqued for suffering from white elitism and how it is now trying to overcome this by focusing on embracing everybody’s contribution and being expressly inclusive
• Climate change requires both civil disobedience and broad public support. Collaboration between social movements such as Extinction Rebellion (XR) and formally registered NGOs is therefore important
• Groups like Greenpeace are better than XR at drawing in the media, examples such as the Netherlands NGO Milieu Defensie (Environmental Defense) are good in online petitioning, while movements like XR are good in mass mobilization. They need to complement each other
• The sustainability of engagement in XR-type activism, with its typical peak-type activities, fairly time-intensive forms of self-organization and democratic decision making styles may be challenged; XR expressly tries to compensate for this through encouraging collective self-care

 
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Summary

Environmental activism, environmental justice and equity concerns: what, if anything, is challenging about holding all of these three concerns at the same time?

Can a better integration or balance be achieved between these 3 concerns?

To what extent is radical activism cyclical in nature because it is hard to keep activists motivated for peak public mobilization moments?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Aseem Prakash, Professor of Political Science and Founding Director at the Center on Environmental Politics at the University of Washington, Seattle (USA) on climate change activism by nonprofits and social movements. Aseem does much of his research together with Nives Dolsak, also a Professor at the University of Washington.

Aseem’s Bio:

• Professor of Political Science; Walker Family Professor; Director, Center for Environmental Politics at the University of Washington, Seattle
• Former Assistant Professor in Strategic Management and Public Policy at the George Washington University in Washington DC
• Obtained his Ph.D. at the Dept of Political Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University
• MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India

Nives’ Bio:

• Nives Dolsak is Professor in Sustainability Science and Director of the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA
• Visiting professor at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

We discuss: 

• Is environmental activism still guilty of white elitism? To what extent is a concern for environmental degradation, including climate change, still primarily a concern for citizens only once their material needs are met? Is the focus on environmental justice making a difference in this regard?
• There are few climate deniers anymore – even in the US: it is more a conflict over what instruments or ways of fighting climate change to use, not a conflict anymore over the goals themselves. Who carries most of the burden of energy policy implications coming out of climate change mitigation needs? Who loses and who wins across rural/urban areas, class, and race? Who pays for the costs of mitigation, and who gets the benefits? These are equity concerns
• Climate change contention and the surge of populism across the world are closely linked since class and location or place (rural vs. urban concerns) are intertwined
• What are the merits of outsider strategies – a la Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement vis-a-vis insider strategies (Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace (partially) etc.?
• ‘Radical’, disruptive activism can have several benefits while it can also antagonize or turn away broader publics (see the radical flank argument)
• Museum vandalism to draw attention to the climate crisis is primarily a European tactic and surged in 2022; it seems to have died down so far in 2023.

Resources:

Aseem’s Website

Aseem’s LinkedIn Profile

Academic article on climate change activism motivated museum vandalism (open access!): https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00054-5

Example of a article by Aseem and Nivek for broader audiences: HERE

Their article on South Africa and coal: 

Summary

What are the strengths of a confederated nonprofit organizational structure and what are its inherent weaknesses and limitations?

What is a ‘diversified network’ type of organizational structure?

To what extent does having a confederated organizational structure, as well as the aspiration to be a diversified network, Impact the nature, legitimacy, adaptability, and quality of decision-making?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Doris Bäsler, formerly Oxfam, on the potential and peril when NGOs aspire to use a network structure

Doris’ Bio:

• Right now, Doris is resting, learning, and volunteering in Berlin, Germany
• Former Director for Strategy & Feminist Futures and Strategy & Confederation Development at Oxfam International
• Former Director for Organisational Development services at Transparency International, as well as head of capacity services
• Worked at Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
• Former Head of office as well as other roles at the country level for the International Committee for the Red Cross

We discuss: 

• The path by which Oxfam chose a confederated organizational structure
• The differences between federated, confederated and corporate unitary structures, and the strengths as well as challenges of confederated structures – and how it is all about places on a spectrum
• How Oxfam got stuck for a while in discussing the choice of a federated versus confederated model – and how the aspiration of a ‘diversified network’ came up
• A diversified network implies that there is diversification of voice: not just global South members, but also non-Christian affiliates, greater recognition of the primacy of Africa within Oxfam, diversification of affiliate business models, etc
• How Oxfam tried to prevent the creation of a lot of “mini me’s”
• The implications for internal systems of decision making, valuing of different forms of knowledge, assets etc
• Quality Decision making can be challenging in a diversified network like Oxfam, but if the values and the ‘why’ and purpose are clear, this helps

Quotes: 

“Complexity of organizational structure is not inherently negative, if you understand it”

“Being a diversified network is an imperative, not a nice to have in a world within which power is clearly shifting”

Resources:

Doris’s LinkedIn profile

Doris’ Email

Related Blogpost

Youtube video of this podcast

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Summary

What is the difference between forecasting and foresight, as a skill and an area of work?

What are the pitfalls when international civil society organizations (ICSOs) apply crisis frameworks to trends that are actually longer-term, intersecting, and systemic?

Decolonization and diversity: how are these big current discussions and areas for taking action intersecting with what sometimes is called 'anticipatory capacity': the capacity to anticipate futures and know how to act in order to try to influence them?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview consultants and former Amnesty International practitioners  Danny Vannucchi and Heather Hutchings, on anticipating the future of civil society operating space - the legal, political and normative space for CSOs to do their work. Their report, commissioned by the International Civil Society Centre (ICSC) as part of its long-term work on civic space, is titled: Anticipating Futures for Civil Society Operating Space.  

 ICSC's mission is to strengthen the impact and resilience of international civil society organizations to support people to change their world for the better. The Centre does this by convening civil society actors, offering training, research and other activities.

The Centre is planning further work on civil society's anticipatory capacity and is keen to get in touch with potential partners. Email Miriam Niehaus at ICSC: mniehaus@icscentre.org

 
Heather’s Bio:

• Consultant at Storm Consulting
• Former senior Advisor, Conflict and Organizational Development at Amnesty International

Danny’s Bio:

• Senior Strategy & Human Rights Consultant
• Senior Strategic Facilitator at GRID Impact
• Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles
• Former director of Global Strategy & Impact at Amnesty International

We discuss: 

• Foresight and forecasting are two different concepts, yet they easily get misunderstood in civil society (CS): forecasting is about the mitigation of risk and is a more pragmatic concern. Foresight is about imagining different futures, shaping visions of the future, and forging strategies to shape the future that emerges. To be ahead of trends, in other words.
• Crises can keep civil society in a ‘defensive crouch’, in a reactive mode. Crisis management mode is a well-honed capacity in civil society, but we do not focus enough on the trends underlying those crises. 
• Due to a lack of anticipatory capacity within civil society, we miss opportunities to make use of or shape longer-term trends 
• CS has sufficient awareness of macro trends, but we fail to make this knowledge actionable; what are the reasons do decision-makers not act on the data on trends that is offered to them?
• Future scanning is actually often primarily about good strategy
• Civil society collectively can improve its anticipatory capacity by pooling resources 

Quotes: 

“How to not sit at the table laid out by others, but rather, invite others to sit at your own table – that is the challenge”

“Crisis response is an important part of NGOS’ public relations 

Summary

What is ‘transscalar activism’ in a nutshell? And how is it different from what academics call the 'Boomerang' model of international advocacy NGO networks?

When did international NGO advocacy begin attracting the attention of academics, and why? What had shifted at that point, what had changed?

What was the dominant narrative in academia for a long time? And what was wrong with that?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Elizabeth Bloodgood, Associate Professor at Concordia University, Canada, and Christopher Pallas, Professor at Kennesaw University, USA, on major shifts in advocacy and campaigning approaches among NGOs. Trust me: their empirical research, based on practitioner case studies, is relevant for us practitioners.

Elizabeth’s Bio:

• Associate Professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Lecturer in non-state actors at the University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College, USA

Christopher’s Bio:

• Professor of Conflict Management at the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at Kennesaw University in Georgia, USA
• His research focuses on nongovernmental organizations and their role in international policymaking and development

We discuss: 

• Chris and Beth argue that how we think about advocacy strategies in relation to the roles and practices of global North and global south founded NGOs is well overdue for an update
• The argument they make in their 2022 book ‘Beyond the Boomerang: From Transnational Advocacy Networks to Transscalar Advoacy’  is linked to hot topics of today, such as decolonizing aid, and a shift in power and agency between global South-founded and global North-founded NGOs – a shift that Beth and Chris argue has already been well on its way for 10+ year. 
• The era of the so-called ‘boomerang effect’  model in global advocacy -- in which national-level global South-founded NGOs would link up to global North-founded NGOs on advocacy causes when they did not find their government to be responsive -- that era is over
• Their argument as expressed in the book implies changes in what are legitimate, needed roles for global North-founded NGOs into the future.
• National NGOs in the global South now choose at what scale to operate (thus the term ‘transscalar activism’) – whether local, national, regional or global -- and these days ally with Southern CSOs as much as with global North-founded NGOs
• This also means that we should expect to see that global South-founded NGOs will feel less obliged to engage in marketing and reframing of their local causes in order to get international partners or global-North based media on their side. 

Resources:

Elizabeth’s LinkedIn Profile

Faculty page of Elizabeth

Faculty page of Christopher

Christopher’s Google Scholer page

Book: <&l

Summary

What’s problematic about philanthropy in the ways the sector has practiced it for many decades?

Are there limits to trust-based philanthropy?

How do boards of grant-making philanthropies such as the Global Fund for Children have to change their composition, mindset, and oversight practices to lessen a compliance and upward accountability lens and to make themselves more responsive to actual needs?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview John Hecklinger, President and CEO at Global Fund for Children, on how we can practice philanthropy that’s less colonial in mindset and practices.

John’s Bio:

• President and CEO, Global Fund for Children (GFC)
• Co-Chair, Alliance for International Youth Development
• Chief Program Officer, Global Giving
• Business development director, Global Giving
• Director of Data Acquisition in the private sector
• Peacecorp volunteer (US volunteering program)

We discuss: 

• Global Fund for Children acts as an intermediary in on-granting philanthropic resources from family and corporate foundations to child and youth-focused, local civil society organizations. It also facilitates peer cohort capacity strengthening among grantee partners
• What John learned from working at Global Giving in terms of its innovative role in introducing crowdfunding to the nonprofit and citizen-giving sector  
• The risks when well-intentioned philanthropic organizations reinforce a mindset of compliance and upward accountability
• GFC stimulates homegrown philanthropy because communities have assets that can be leveraged 
• How GFC’s board had to evolve in composition, mindset and practices  composition to be liberated from simply approving ‘pre-baked’ dockets of prepared projects and to move to an approach that allowed GFC to become more flexible and responsive to needs
• What does the future of philanthropy look like, beyond grantmaking, when on-granting organizations such as GFC have taken themselves out of the picture?

Quotes:

“Everyone was getting smarter together once the board composition became more representative of the grantee partners it worked with”

Resources:

John’s LinkedIn Profile

Global Fund for Children (GFC) Website

GFC’s blogs

Podcast episode #22, NGO Soul + Strategy, with Dorothy Nyambi of MEDA

Benchmarking study on Shifting Power among 17 CSOs (International Civil Society Centre)

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Summary

What are the characteristics of 'digitally native' campaigning organizations?

How do digital NGO campaigning organizations compare and contrast with traditional, 'brick and mortar' NGOs?

Do digitally native civil society organizations and traditional NGOs sufficiently seek to complement each other, in order to maximize impact? I don't think they do.

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Nina Hall, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University, on my episode 'Digital advocacy NGOs: a necessary, complementary force'.

 Nina’s Bio:

• Associate Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University,  School of Advanced International Studies, Europe
• Nina's research explores the role of transnational advocacy and international organizations in international relations
• Published research on advocacy organizations and multilateral institutions
• Author of the recent book Transnational Advocacy in the Digital Era, Think Global, Act Local (Oxford University Press, 2022)
• DPhil (Ph.D.) in International Relations from the University of Oxford

 We discuss: 

• Nina studies progressive national digital advocacy and other digital campaigning organizations
• Digital advocacy organizations use digital campaigning tactics such as online petitioning, combined with offline tactics such as street mobilization, offline meetings with campaign targets, etc. 
• Digital advocacy organizations are less likely to work on issues that are less broadly popular, such as minority rights issues
• Nina pushes back on the use of the word ‘platform’ for digital advocacy organizations since the actors she studies have actual HQs, paid staff, etc.
• The kind of digital advocacy organizations that Nina studies have most potential to be effective in more or less democratic societies, where they are in a position to pressure elected or appointed decision-makers
• The profile of most ‘members’ (i.e. supporters) of digital advocacy organizations is that of middle-class, educated, urban citizens with adequate internet access
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of this type of digital advocacy organization, as compared to those of traditional NGOs?
• What's the difference between staff-stewarding campaigning approaches versus member-driven approaches?

Resources:

Nina’s professional Website

Nina’s personal Website

Nina’s book:  Transnational Advocacy in the Digital Era: Thinking Global, Acting Local, Oxford University Press, 2022

Nina's book recently won the ISA ICOM best book prize, see HERE

Stanford Social Science Innovation Research excerpt of Nina's book - HERE

Twitter thread by Nina on the book – HERE

Youtube video

Summary

INGOs have been rocked by scandals and allegations of abuse of power, discrimination etc. in the last 5-10 years. 

What kind of different types of scandals can we distinguish in our sector?

Which factors that affect nonprofit scandals remain understudied?

What's the distinction between integrity violations and competency violations? And should we be getting more concerned as a sector about the latter

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Cassandra Chapman, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Queensland, Australia, on causes, consequences, and prevention and recovery strategies for NGO scandals.

Cassandra’s Bio:

• Associate Professor in Marketing at the Business School of the University of Queensland
• Associate Editor at Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
• Former practitioner - Supporter Development Manager as well as Fundraising & Communications Manager at ChildFund, New Zealand

We discuss: 

• If the consequences of transgressions by nonprofits are directly relevant to the mission of nonprofits, then they are being punished harsher by the public and the media
• Scandal consequences go up, if the nonprofit is perceived to be inactive afterward, or tries to cover it up
• ‘Expectancy violations’ happen when nonprofits engage in ethical transgressions because nonprofits are perceived to be/are expected to be ‘good’
• Researchers should examine more on whether sector-level actions by nonprofit apex or peak bodies engage in apology, acknowledgment, and reparative actions
• Persons who feel morally credentialled by working in nonprofits are actually more likely to transgress

Quotes:

“My mission as an academic is to create usable know-how for practitioners”

“People assume that there is a crisis in trust in charities; instead, actually, trust in charities has continued a little bit in charities over time”

Resources:

Cassandra’s LinkedIn

Cassandra’s Twitter

Cassandra’s article: (this article is not available through Open Access; message Cassandra through LinkedIn and she can send you the PDF version)

Cassandra’s short summary post on LinkedIn

An upcoming website with summaries of articles by Cassandra: www.donorpsych.org

Tosca’s essay on ‘Can organizational culture explain recent INGo scandals’ provides further perspectives

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Summary

A number of NGOs have aimed to strengthen their global legitimacy by adding more global South members/affiliates. Is this truly a valuable strategy? Does it help with legitimacy to be more 'globally balanced'? What are the hard lessons learned about how to manage this process? And how do local civil society as well as government respond?

 Hazem Fahmy, the CEO of the CARE Egypt Foundation and former Country Director of CARE USA-line managed Egypt Country Office, is an excellent source of wisdom on all of this. He, together with his senior leadership and with other 'change champions' in his broader team and in CARE globally, shepherded CARE Egypt's transition into full membership.

What does Hazem consider the most interesting or rewarding about the ‘art and science’ of change leadership?

Equally, what is the most difficult or frustrating about this experience with change management and leadership?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Hazem Fahmy, CEO of CARE Egypt Foundation, on CARE Egypt’s Country Office transition towards full membership. 

Hazem’s Bio:

• CEO of the CARE Egypt Foundation
• Country Director for CARE Egypt Country Office
• Worked at CARE Egypt for 19 years
• PhD from New Mexico University in Water Resources

We discuss: 

• CARE USA had overseen the CARE Egypt Country Office for almost 60 years before it transitioned to full CARE membership (with a voice in global governance)
• These kinds of transformations should not be seen as a project but as a change journey
• The addition of global South members to CARE’s confederation means that new topics have been introduced within CARE: it has changed the organization’s discourse on what matters
• How the new global South  members demanded that global North members too should live up to the same  standards that are expected of them 
• Organizational change processes like this always take longer than expected, but that is acceptable– it's about living up to the intention of change, not about project deadlines
• Hazem finds it rewarding to hear people who used to be doubtful about this strategic direction now applaud what has been achieved
• One cannot be overfocused on keeping staff comfortable by saying that most things will not change
• Egyptian civil society largely accepts the CARE Egypt Foundation as part of its own, while Government has started to involve it more in consultative roundtables - so the transition to full membership has helped with local credibility.

 Quotes:

“Change management means navigating a lot of ambiguity, it is a discovery process; change is not a project”

“Don’t leave influential people behind”

“I am not denying there is a privilege in being tied to the CARE mothership”

Resources:

Hazem’s LinkedIn profile

Hazem’s Email

Website of Care Egypt Foundation

Hazem’s blog:

Youtube video of this podcast

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Summary

What is most difficult or challenging about operating as a leader in a place like Oxfam?

What does it take to lead from a political frame in NGOs?

Rational persuasion: is it overrated?

In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview John Samuel, Oxfam Asia Regional Director on influence and power in complex NGOs. John is an expert on Organizational Development. He is also the founder of Bodhigram, an Indian grassroots social movement,

John’s Bio:

• Regional Director of Oxfam Asia
• Former President of the Institute for Sustainable Development and Governance
• President & CEO of Trancivic International
• President of the National Centre for Advocacy Studies
• CEO of FORUM-Asia, the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development
• International advisor at UNDP

We discuss: 

• What John is most excited about in Oxfam at this moment, as well as what can be challenging as a leader in Oxfam
• Oxfam is a complex organization, combining multiple DNAs of the respective affiliates, their histories, organizational systems and national cultures - how to navigate this most effectively
• What it takes to develop relationships of trust in an organization like Oxfam: negotiation across differences, people, power, and national cultures. Also understanding where people are coming from, rather than using the same measuring scale on all
• How integrity, truthfulness, conviction, and principles can bypass or negate internal organizational political dynamics
• John's experience is that some people are mission-focused; some are career-driven; and some task-driven; knowing how to recognize these different drivers is helpful.

Quotes:

“Organizations are about people, systems, and power”

“An organization is a living system, it’s organic; an institution, on the other hand, is about systems”

“Humans are fundamentally relational, so you lead through people and relationships”

“Leadership is about communication acts, through language”

“Power is not what you have but what you are perceived to have” (Saul Lewinsky)

Resources:

John’s LinkedIn

Website of Bodhigram, the grassroots social movement founded by John 

John’s blogs:

Dancing with dreams reflects part of the philosophy of Bodhigram

On leadership and language

 John’s predictions for a 2030 future for INGOs

Youtube video of this podcast

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