Social Norms Chat

Send us Fan Mail  How can governments work towards behavior change, using social norms frameworks?  In this season's finale, host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Gwen Dereymaeker and Cameron Cyster, former and current servants at the Western Cape Government . Together, they talk about how government decisions shape everyday life, challenges, good examples and the impact of social norms on health...

Send us Fan Mail  How can collective action be triggered and maintained at scale and how can we use that for change?  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Györgyi Galik , from Dark Matter Labs / Governing Together . Together, they talk about innovations at the local level, focusing on citizen participation and its importance.  Check Governing Together's summ...

Send us Fan Mail   What is the importance of supporting leadership development? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Caren Wakoli , from Emerging Leaders Foundation . Together, they talk about the role of mentorship, value-driven leadership and TransformNorms , a fellowship programme that is co-hosted with Emerging Leaders.  Our Recommendation: TransformNorms Too...

Send us Fan Mail   How can we engage boys and men for dialogue and gender norms change? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Harish Sadani , from Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) . Together, they talk about the evolution of masculinity conversations over the years, the importance of addressing social norms and the need for long-term engagement with men and b...

Send us Fan Mail   How can we push for digital rights and protect politicians from online violence? What is the role of platforms, governments and civil society? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Paulina Ibarra , from Fundación Multitudes . Together, they talk about work countering violence against politicians and the how the world we currently live in contrib...

Send us Fan Mail   How can we use faith leadership to change social norms? What happens when faith leaders challenge violence?  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia Riederer seats with Uwezo Baghuma Lele , from Tearfund . They talk about faith leaders as potential agents of norms change, evidence of impact in conflict-affected contexts and the challenges of faith-based engagement. A...

Send us Fan Mail How can we smartly use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools at behavior change initiatives? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia is joined by Sarah Osman , from Osman Advisory Services . They talk about the recent evolution of technologies, good practices and innovations.  Our Recommendation: AI uses in behavior change & social projects GRIT - Gender Rights in Tec...

Send us Fan Mail  How can we build and strengthen capacities in order to promote gender norms change? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia is joined by Lori Heise , from Prevention Collaborative . They talk about gender norms, violence prevention, and how practitioners can effectively design programs for social change.  Our Recommendation: Transforming Gender Norms for Violence Prev...

Send us Fan Mail  What can be do inside your organization to help you better drive changes in the outside? In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia , Helene Wolf and Anusha Bharadwaj , Co-Executive Directors at Fair Share of Women Leaders talk about feminist leadership and how internal changes in organizations can drive good change for everyone. Our Recommendation: Feminist Project Mana...

Send us Fan Mail What do social and gender norms have to do with online gender-based violence and what can we do to tackle it?  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia and Chioma Agwuegbo , Executive Director at TechHerNG , talk about how important it is and how to tackle techonology facilitated violence. Our Recommendation: Transforming Social Norms Toolkit This toolkit by TransformNo...

Send us Fan Mail  How can we use Entertainment to drive behavior? And more importantly, how can we measure this impact?  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia and Amy Henderson Riley , Director of Research, Evaluation, and Impact at Population Media Center , Education-Entertainment (EE), Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) and monitoring and evaluation.  This conversation...

Send us Fan Mail  What comes first—laws or social change?  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , host Cäcilia sits down with Julie Thekkudan , South Asia Consultant for Equality Now in South Asia, to explore the powerful and often complex interplay between social norms, legal reform, and justice systems.  Julie shares her personal journey into women’s rights advocacy, beginning with childhood obs...

Send us Fan Mail  What happens when funders truly trust communities—and build long-term, flexible support around their leadership? In Episode 10 of Social Norms Chat , Cäcilia Riederer speaks with Jama Jack , Senior Communications Officer at Girls First Fund , about rethinking philanthropy and power in the fight for gender justice. From her early activism (at Lend a Hand Society ) in the Gambia to...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , Cäcilia speaks with Georgia Arnold , former Executive Director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and founder of the GA-Agency. Georgia has spent decades using the power of storytelling to challenge social norms, particularly around HIV, gender, and sexuality. She shares how groundbreaking shows like Shuga —MTV’s scripted drama tackling top...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode of Social Norms Chat , Cäcilia sits down with Amisa Rashid, founder of the Nivishe Foundation , a grassroots organization working to make mental health care accessible, dignified, and culturally sensitive in Kenya—particularly for marginalized communities. Amisa shares the powerful story behind Nivishe’s founding, rooted in her personal experiences growing up in t...

Send us Fan Mail  How can we engage adolescents in conversations about gender, power, and social change—and support them in becoming agents of change in their communities? In Episode 7 of Social Norms Chat , Cäcilia Riederer speaks with Nayana Chowdhury, CEO of Breakthrough India , about how the organization has built large-scale programs to shift harmful gender norms among adolescents. Drawing fr...

Send us Fan Mail  How can media support long-term social norms change? In Episode 6 of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia Riederer is joined by Anna Bwana, Country Director of BBC Media Action Tanzania , to explore how storytelling, mass media, and digital platforms can challenge harmful norms and promote positive change. Drawing on years of experience with media initiatives like Niambie , Anna shares wha...

Send us Fan Mail  What are the most common misconceptions about how social norms and behaviors interact—and how can they mislead even well-intentioned change-makers? In Episode 5 of Social Norms Chat , Cäcilia Riederer and Dr. Sohail Agha bust five big myths that often show up in the world of social and behavior change. From the myth of a one-way relationship between norms and behaviors to the ove...

Send us Fan Mail  How do we identify social norms in a community before designing interventions? In Social Norms Chat’s fourth episode, Cäcilia Riederer and Dr. Sohail Agha dive into the role of formative research in mapping social norms. They unpack how to make sure to ask the right questions and how to design a doable but helpful formative research. Projects and articles we mentioned: Change Sta...

Send us Fan Mail  What are reference groups, both in theory and in practice? In Social Norms Chat’s third episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the ideas of role models, champions and reference groups. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide   Projects and articles we mentioned:  Prevention Collaborative - Bandebereho Female genital cutting in the Gambia: a case for Tostan...

Send us Fan Mail  What are social norms, where do they come from, and why do we follow them even when they go against our personal beliefs? In Social Norms Chat’s second episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the concept and the theory behind it. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide   If you want to read more about Social Norms, check out: The Social Norms Atlas: Understa...

Send us Fan Mail  What are behaviors and why are they so important for social norms change? In Social Norms Chat’s very first episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the concept of behavior and the theory behind it. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide   The resources mentioned in the episode are:  Fogg Model https://behaviormodel.org/   Saleema Program https://www.unicef....

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