The Social Change Pod

Why does traditional philanthropy rely so heavily on rigid, transactional controls, and how is that micro-management stifling real, systemic change? Join The Social Change Nest 's Kristen Woolf together with Claudia Giampietri from  Healthy Food Healthy Planet and Sandra Kushrawi from Famtastisch Foundation as they unpack the urgent shift toward trust-based, flexible funding. Together, they explor...

Join The Social Change Nest's Rufaro Mudavanho together with Elijah Williams from Brent Giving and Andy Crosbie and Rich Gibbons from Gateshead Community Bridgebuilders, on the latest episode of The Social Change Pod as they explore the power of place-based community work, highlighting how organisations like Gateshead Community Bridge Builders and Brent Giving empower local voices through particip...

Join The Social Change Nest's CEO, Esther Foreman and Rachel Smith, Creative Director of Make/Shift, on the latest episode of The Social Change Pod as they unpack what it really looks like to pay people fairly for their time, energy, and expertise, exploring how Payment for Involvement works in practice when you’re navigating the “messy middle” between big institutions and grassroots communities....

Today we are talking about the mammoth topic of Payment for Involvement, part of our Payment for Involvement podcast series that we’ve been running over the past couple of months since the launch of the payment for Involvement playbook . In the previous episode, we explored  why it’s so important for organisations to recognise and value lived experience  and to pay people for their involvement. In...

What happens when you compensate people for their involvement, but doing so negatively impacts their eligibility for government benefits?   Together, we'll unpack why paying people for their lived experience is the right thing to do , but also explore the challenges of doing this effectively without disrupting people's benefits .   This is something we've been grappling with as an organisation for...

Are you a renegade anarchist who loves rules, compliance and risk management? We're looking for a new Non-Executive Director to join The Social Change Nest board. In this episode Pete Treganna (Non-Executive Director) and Sapna Patel (Operations Director) discuss what the role involves and why we'd love for you to apply! Interested in being on the board of The Social Change Nest ? Find out more an...

Tactics employed by social movements are evolving, strikes are enjoying unprecedented levels of public support, and communities are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. Anya Stern and Aggie Taylor discuss some of the movement trends they've been observing in 2023. What trends have you been noticing? Share your thoughts by tagging us on Twitter @SocialChangeAg Host: Anya Stern and Aggi...

Esther Foreman and Rachel Krengel from The Social Change Agency meet up with James Ozden, Director at Social Change Lab to explore what it takes to build an effective protest movement. Topics covered include: - why some protest movements flourish (and some don't) - whether disruptive tactics work - the importance of shared identity and collaboration - the need for more funding to be directed to to...

Today we're speaking with the Head of Grants at the British Science Association, Chris Manion. We'll be discussing The Ideas Fund, an innovative public engagement program that provides grants for community groups and researchers who have new ideas for addressing local challenges related to mental health and wellbeing. We'll also be looking at the role funders play in bringing about social change,...

In this episode, we chat to Alice Sachrajda and Marzena Zukowska, authors of New Brave World: The power, opportunities and potential of pop culture for social change in the UK. We explore the opportunities for leveraging pop culture for social change and share examples of where pop culture has already proven to be a powerful driver of social change. You can read the full 'New Brave World' report a...

We check in with Hannah Paterson on the latest developments in participatory grantmaking and the Shift The Power movement. Plus, we discuss Hannah's new role as Senior Portfolio Manager – Innovation, Policy and Practice at the National Lottery Community Fund.

This episode is a conversation between our consultant Rachel Krengel and Michael Parsons, Portfolio Manager at Guy’s and St Thomas' Charity, which is a foundation dedicated to addressing health inequalities in urban areas. We’ve been working with them on a project to support 20 communities in Southwark and Lambeth during the Covid-19 emergency and beyond. We are piloting ways to get direct financi...

In this episode, our consultant Rachel Krengel speaks to Lindon Rankin, who is an organiser at the African ‘n’ Caribbean Wellbeing Group based in Southwark. Lindon’s is one of the many community groups we at SCA support. In this podcast, Rachel talks to Lindon about his journey into community organising, his experiences of organising during the pandemic and how he believes grassroots groups can st...

In this podcast, speak to Amy Hulme, Senior Consultancy Manager at The Social Change Agency and fair pay campaigner, who reflects on her time campaigning for the Living Wage. She shares her journey into activism and discusses how to build a successful strategy, movement-building misconceptions and dealing with the slow pace of corporate behaviour change as a campaigner.

In this podcast, speak to Mita Desai, programme manager for the Young Trustees Movement. She shares her journey into activism and discusses how to build a successful strategy, movement-building misconceptions and balancing the need to lead with the need to let go of control.

This is part 2 of a two-part interview featuring Brian Young, the Executive Director of Action Network in conversation with Betsy, our principal director. Action Network is a non-profit dedicated to providing cutting edge technology to the progressive movement. As we record this, we’re facing the corona pandemic induced lockdown and Betsy and Brian reflect on ways technology can bring communities...

This is part 1 of a two-part interview featuring Brian Young, the Executive Director of Action Network in conversation with Betsy, our principal director. Action Network is a non-profit dedicated to providing cutting edge technology to the progressive movement. Brian discusses how to build power between people, rather than their online profiles. Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.org Follow us...

In this episode, we're sitting down with Hannah Paterson a Churchill Fellow exploring participatory grant-making. Participatory grant-making (PGM) is a means of putting funding decisions into the hands of those affected by the decisions. Done right, it can fundamentally shift power blurring the traditional roles of ‘funder’ and ‘grantee’. Hannah will be running a session on PGM at our ‘Losing Cont...

In this episode, we chat with Uma Mishra-Newbery, Executive Director of Women’s March Global, to talk through some of the challenges inherent in the funding sector and the opportunities that lie in changing the traditional approach. Uma is running a session at our ‘Losing Control in funding and commissioning event’ on the 4th March 2020. It will be a day of honest conversations with funders, grant...

In this episode, we chat to Jason Foo, CEO of BBD Perfect Storm, a ‘brand and cultural transformation agency’ who have put purpose at the heart of the work they do. Foo talks about appetite for social change in the business sector and the scope for social impact. Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.org Follow us on Twitter at @SocialChangeAg Host: Kate Edwards Guest: Jason Foo Producer: Maria Ma...

In this episode, we caught up with Jo Wells, director of the Blagrave Trust and founding funder of the Young Trustees Movement, which brings together a number of organisations with the aim of doubling the number of young people serving on charity sector boards over the next five years. Jo talks to us about her decision to get behind The Young Trustees Movement, why it is so necessary for the futur...

In this episode, we speak with Tor Evans, the senior external relations manager for the Roundhouse who also sits on the Young Trustees Movement advisory board. The Roundhouse has been a leading voice in the push to recruit young trustees. They are trailblazers who have had young trustees for over a decade and even created a guide to youth governance in collaboration with the Arts Council. Tor shar...

In this podcast Pete Burden introduces sociocracy, a consent-based decision making approach to organising. Pete is an organisational strategist, coach and facilitator with over 30 years’ experience working with purpose-driven businesses and organisations. In the second part of this episode, ‘Art of Hosting’ practitioner Jose Barco talks us through acting with purpose and the Art of Hosting approac...

It’s often the case that NGOs, philanthropists and funders want to help grassroots groups. But how do you fund a movement which has no leader, no address, and no bank account? And on the flip side, movements might be conflicted about taking this help. What if they're co-opted and their values are diluted, or what if more admin and professionalism upsets the volunteer-led spirit at the heart of wha...

In this episode we speak with Kristiana Wrixon, Head of Policy at ACEVO and leader of the research on bullying in the workplace and creating safer cultures. The Center for Mental Health and ACEVO recently published "In Plain Sight: Workplace Bullying in Charities and Implications for Leadership". This is the second report ACEVO have released following reports about bullying, abusive, and exploitat...