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

Melissa talks with Hope Chigudu, reflecting back on the 20-21 May Global Gathering entitled “Living our values: Care, culture and power in aid organisations” held by the CHS Alliance. In their conversation they cover: The connections between power, culture and care The importance of leadership, of using language that people can understand in different contexts, of raising awareness about power in...

In this conversation Mary Ann Clements explains the background and the hopes for the 20-21 May 2021 CHS Alliance virtual Global Gathering on Living our values: Care, culture and power in aid organisations.  This free virtual gathering is the first of its kind in our sector which will bring together leaders and practitioners who are interested in the question of how we live our values in aid organi...

At the end of January 2021 Naser Haghamed completed his 5-year stint as the CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide. Melissa reflects back with him about leadership, staff well-being and organisational culture for the ICVA-CHS Alliance “Leading Well” project.    In their conversation they consider  What it’s like to be in constant “firefighting mode” as a CEO of an organization operating in multiple confl...

Melissa talks with Julia Sánchez, the former Secretary General of ActionAid International. The conversation was part of an ICVA-CHS Alliance joint project engaging aid leaders on the issues of staff well-being and supportive organisational culture.  ActionAid’s ten principles of feminist leadership include elements that explicitly link to staff well-being, like self awareness, self-care and caring...

Melissa talks with Gozel Baltaeva and Adrien Muratet about Commitment Eight of the Core Humanitarian Standard. What are the data and the practitioners saying about people management in the humanitarian sector, especially during COVID? Gozel Baltaeva was the People Management Adviser and point of contact for tailored support on all people management topics for CHS Alliance members. With a master’s...

How can we know how staff are doing during these crazy times? Ask them.  Melissa talks with Roger Parry, Director of Agenda Consulting. His organisation specialises in employee and volunteer engagement surveys for non-profits. He shares his insights on how staff engagement has increased in the turbulent year of 2020, on how people are experiencing stress differently based on their gender, age and...

Melissa and Jules Frost talk with Rachel Coghlan about what humanitarians can learn from palliative care. Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families who face problems associated with life-threatening illness. Like the topic of mental illness, the subject of death and dying can be difficult to discuss. Compassion is a common theme that comes up in both domains.  Thi...

In this episode, Melissa talks with Brendan McDonald, co-founder and COO of Uncomfortable Revolution. They explore lessons learned from a big push to get the issue of aid worker well-being on the agenda in the run-up to the World Humanitarian Summit.  To learn more about Brendan’s work, you can find him:  ·      on Twitter at @7piliers ·      Uncomfortable Revolution at https://www.urevolution.com...

Melissa talks with Melly Preira, the Human Resources Director at the Jesuit Refugee Service, about how she introduced major changes to her humanitarian organisation's approach to staff support.  Melly’s HR Department supports 56 countries in 10 regions and implements HR management practices, tailored to both the field and HQ. She guides senior management on the development and promotion of strateg...

Mary Ann catches up with Gemma Houldey. We hear Gemma's nuanced perspective on the idea of the "perfect humanitarian," the need for new ways of working that value vulnerability, and the insights gained by applying the lens of diversity and difference (particularly as they relate to race and gender). Dr. Gemma Houldey shares with Mary Ann her views on well-being in the aid sector, particularly the...

In this episode Lana Baqaeen a Regional Staff Care Specialist for MENA Region with International Rescue Committee talks with Mary Ann about the work they are doing on their Duty of Care programme. Lana shares how International Rescue Committee (IRC) implement their Duty of Care programme, providing professional mental health support that covers all staff and their families. They provide comprehens...

In this show, you'll hear Mary Ann interview Imogen Wall, an independent consultant working in the humanitarian aid sector, mental health advocate and a specialist around well being in the sector. And also Founder of the 50 shades of aid Facebook group that. They talk about the lack of attention to Mental Health in Humanitarian Settings and the huge amount we can learn from other sectors about the...

In this show, you'll hear Mary Ann interview Dr. Peter Mills, Medical Director of Cigna. They talk about the mental health impacts of Covid-19 and the need for organisations to be prepared to help meet them and support their staff and about the responsibility of boards and leadership to take seriously the wellbeing of staff.  Dr. Mills trained in medicine at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medic...

Hitendra Solanki is a senior lecturer in development studies at London South Bank University. He’s been active in the development and humanitarian sector for over 16 years. Most recently, he worked as a Mindfulness and Wellbeing Adviser in Action Against Hunger UK. He also led the 3-year Mindfulness & Wellbeing project as part of the Start Network’s Transforming Surge Capacity programme. You c...

In this show, you'll hear Melissa interview Don Bosch, Director of Risk Psychology and HEAT Training at the Headington Institute . Don is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with 35 years of experience and understands human behaviour and brain function.  Outside of Pandemic, Don is often in the field doing debriefs, working with global response teams, and providing psychological sup...

In this show, you'll hear Melissa interview Kristin Duncombe a therapist and couples counsellor, life coach, and author. She’s based her career on working with international and expatriate individuals and families following her own experience of growing up across Africa and Asia as the child of a diplomat and having lived internationally most of her adult life. You can check out her work at her we...

Welcome to Embodying Change. In this introductory episode, you'll hear Melissa Pitotti talking with Tanya Wood, Executive Director of CHS Alliance. They introduce you to the initiative initially incubated by the CHS Alliance about building care and compassion in the sector and talk about wellbeing in the context of COVID-19. You can find out more about CHS Alliance at https://www.chsalliance.org/...