https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq What are the highlights, new learnings and insights are emerging for you? en-us 2023-08-01 06:08:04 UTC 2023-08-02 08:05:52 UTC hello@padlet.com mehtatwisha0013 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2653997257 2023-08-01 06:08:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2653997257 mehtatwisha0013 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2653997347 2023-08-01 06:08:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2653997347 mehtatwisha0013 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654059222 2023-08-01 08:20:44 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654059222 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654076522 it is striking how trust building, focusing on relationships and the quality of the 'how' in including deep listening has become a part of everyone's practice so intentionally and consciously (including with the Board and (some?) back donors). Big shift from 2020 (MF). 

Growing recognition that the time it takes to build trust and deepen relationships is rewarded with quality, solidarity, positive feelings like joy

many team members seem to be consciously drawing upon/utilising their own networks and friendship relationships to expand or extend UAF A&P work

many team members seem to be extending themselves beyond their own job descriptions to support others (I'm wondering if there is a shadow side to this - re - exhaustion or learning to set very clear boundaries??) ]]> 2023-08-01 09:08:25 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654076522 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654077245 it is also striking how building the muscle inside the team learning and meeting spaces - for deep listening, pausing, creating space/spaciousness, learning to know and connect to people you're working with as 'whole' people is now 'filtering' into work and relationships with others across the ecosystem - including big funders!!! 

Growing recognition of the value of 'idle' time and it's contribution/necessity to creativity and innovation
mf)]]> 2023-08-01 09:10:28 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654077245 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654080299 striking how much more at ease team members are with experimenting without fear of failure (mf)]]> 2023-08-01 09:19:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654080299 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654088711 2023-08-01 09:44:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654088711 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654111602 While these spaces promote collective learning, these processes have also led to individual growth. People are changing, there is transformation evident in individuals. In how many ways are we able to see personal growth in ourselves?]]> 2023-08-01 10:49:23 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654111602 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654112341 All actions, changed ways of working and understanding of contexts and cases are arising out of our ability and privilege to listen deeply. We are engaged in a series of proactive actions that is building the base for what will shape our work in the coming years]]> 2023-08-01 10:51:58 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654112341 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654115050 While we talk about how we work by centering care, we have to examine what care means to us - not just collectively, but at an individual level too..What reflects as care to me and not just what can care look like at an organisational level? HOw do we go beyond literal meanings and conventional understanding of it?]]> 2023-08-01 10:59:56 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654115050 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654187423 I'm also struck at how what it means to practice something (ie. creating a culture or way of doing) is becoming increasingly important. Eg. you're talking now about the language you're using to communicate with activists - do you speak in a way that is "right" for them - whether disability activists or sex worker activists, which is more complex than 'simple' translation from English. Another eg. is in the meaning of co-leadership. At first its meaning was linked to the 'formal structure' of the co-leads. Now it's meaning is expanding to other team members working "formally" as co-leads like Tara and Anna or 'co-leading' in the way the huddles are being planned or 'co-leading' in the way multiple team members responded during the Oasis meeting.]]> 2023-08-01 13:52:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654187423 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654237403 I'm struck by how listening to activists now is not only about "a convening" or 'giving them voice', but how its affecting thinking and doing. How its about the meaning of being participatory, about critically engaging with how to meet their needs - not only in what kinds of grants are being offered but how they're being offered (and even to whom like advisors RR grant); how the financing is being delivered; how the communications is being created and developed. Where 'piloting' and research is first being done interactively with activists it in turn is leading to greater efficiency and "co-creation".]]> 2023-08-01 15:23:24 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654237403 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654245182 I'm curious to hear what helps make the huddle more 'inviting' - is this something that develops over time? Is it about the way the huddles are being facilitated? The way the team is entering them? A greater ease with reflection and 'facing ourselves'? Is it less scary only for those who've been coming for a long time or also for newer people? (mf)]]> 2023-08-01 15:37:15 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654245182 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654323698 2023-08-01 18:47:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654323698 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654324131
Sarah

• Women in Parliament is an ongoing issue talked about at community and international level but lacks political will
• Women still seen as inferior to men, they have to face many cultural barriers to be elected representatives
• Women are needed in Parliament so that key issues can be addressed that male dominated cabinets don’t give attention to
  
  

Ava

• Tried many times but failed before - but worked this time - which made me reflect on what we did differently this time
• Lesson for strengthening collaboration between Sister Funds
• RRG models > brought staff members together for them to discuss and share how they do it, challenges they face, etc.
• What worked is that there was space to experiment without fear of policing or failure, adequate time and flexibility over months to prepare
• Saw the value of connections and conversations
• Learning about own and others’ strengths and acknowledging it was useful
• Built trust in the team
  
  

Noelene

• Relationship with DFAT > it has developed very well in the last 6 months
• Last year was the first year of our grant, we have built trust over last 18 months which led to them reducing the reporting requirements from us which would otherwise be very time consuming
• Pushed back on bureaucratic expectations wrt grantee partners which wasn’t feasible for us; we also questioned their definition of ‘risk management’ which they have taken on board and responded to it positively, taking it to consideration and shared with senior officials part of due diligence
• This shows they trust us and are committed to our partnership (AIR partnership)
• Being an Australian, have been building a relationship with DFAT officials so this was fulfilling and has been a massic learning experience
• We now have processes in place that make it easier to engage with other donors as well (Canadian govt, Swedish govt)
  
  

Sunayana

• Board meeting in Bali > We gave ourselves spaciousness and investing time to play, build personal connections etc which shifted something
• We managed to complete all paperwork and tasks and still manage to do all the above, including building trust between each other, bringing everyone together
  
  

Anna

• Convening with West Papua activists > most fulfilled when everyone reached home
• We always have the intention to expand our outreach but remote places or risky places get left out
• West Papua challenged our usual practice, we took calculated risks, and it came together really well in the end but took a lot of trust-building within the team
• With changing contexts, question of to what extent we take risks as a team gently, kindly, together - is something we need to figure out
  
  

Ila

• I enjoyed worked on the sex workers’ rights activists grants call
• We employed a participatory process in the we developed communications around it leading to better results because we consulted with multiple stakeholders - activists, grants team, advisors
• Within the team we had a collaborative approach
• Lot of invisible work involved in political framing, background research and understanding
• We learned to put our audience at the centre of all communications and speak in a language they understand and relate to
• This is how we now want to be doing comms - in a participatory, inclusive process moving forward, vs in a templtised way
• More space within the team to think critically, strategically, hold each other accountable
• Got appreciated by an advisor about how good the SWR grants call content was
  
  

Shan

• When are we powering with and when are we powering over? What are we frustrated at?
• intention to collaborate, intention to shift the narrative are bearing fruits
• credibility with activists, institutions, and within the team
• cross-pollination across teams, having members involved in different projects helped the whole team become stronger by seeing the bigger picture of our work e.g. Fareen's story of joining Oasis with a Finance perspective
• a nurturing environment that supports individual growth feeds into collective learning 
  
  

Common themes

• Trust & relationships resonated throughout
• Everyone is feeling tangible/significant movement
• Decolonising language and using the right language - as a political project
• Language justice - eg disability rights activists and sex workers
• Centering who needed to be centered
• Finding peoples strengths and leaning into it
• Spaciousness and courage
• Keeping the ‘why we do what we do’ at the back of our minds in everything we do
• Give people time
• To value the space to prepare well
• Trusting and letting go
• Our ability to articulate the work and its impact on what we need and how to sustain the work.
• Letting idle space exist so we can innovate without pressure
• Articulations for how we experience the work we do and our needs

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It'd perhaps help sustain the team's high energy if a clear narrative of how this shift has happened can grow out of these conversations, and learnings can be distilled. At the same time, the alertness and appetite for challenges in the team shows how folks are able to embrace constantly changing dynamics in the work while appreciating good times like this. (Yas)]]> 2023-08-02 02:46:35 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654516726 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654521222 - Specific challenges brought up by team members in the coming days
- What Caroline shared about 'power over' from the fund
(Yas)]]> 2023-08-02 02:53:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654521222 https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654527288 Lifting up Shan's words and movement at the ending circle, yesterday I heard many celebratory stories of how the space for growing both together and individually has allowed better collaborations, deeper listening and engagements, more innovations to happen. (Yas)]]> 2023-08-02 03:04:44 UTC https://padlet.com/mehtatwisha0013/j4xiwuvr60v3h1kq/wish/2654527288