We need to listen, engage, unlearn and relearn

Kate Newman is Chief Executive of INTRAC, which works to support and strengthen civil society organizations. Kate has worked in the international development sector for over 25 years, including for ActionAid and Christian Aid. She has a PhD from Goldsmiths College, University of London, on rights-based and participatory approaches to development.

The GFCF first spoke to Kate before the #ShiftThePower Global Summit in Bogotá (which she was unable to attend). This came towards the end of a year-long process of reflection and transformation for the organization – with some difficult conversations on the way to an agreed strategy. With INTRAC’s new approach now finalized, Kate reflects on key aspects of the strategy and the role the organization aims to play in supporting INGOs to transform.

INTRAC: An eco-system approach to civil society support

Kate Newman, INTRAC

At the heart of our new strategy is the intention to shift from prioritizing support to individual actors working in civil society, and civil society organizations; to focusing on the wider eco-system of civil society support; strengthening and transforming this nationally and globally. We believe that this is the most effective way we can deliver our vision and mission.

We also want to actively contribute in supporting, encouraging and holding INGOs accountable on the “how” they practice power shifts – moving from words to action. We are not claiming that we have answers on the “what”, these are coming from elsewhere in the movement, but we do feel that we can contribute on the “how” based on deep experience on INGO organizational change pathways, equitable partnership and organizational development; linked to our intention to support civil society organizations to develop, engage with others, and do what they want to do, better.

Towards values-driven consultancy

Central to our strategy is to build a network of ethical and values-driven consultants and civil society support providers. These people and organizations will be locally rooted and globally connected; working in different ways to strengthen the resilience, impact and legitimacy of civil society organizations. They will be contributing to development that is locally-determined, led and owned.

The emphasis on an eco-system approach and transforming the consultancy sector is core to strengthening the quality and appropriateness of support available to civil society organizations, nationally; as well as enabling the delivery of the role we aim to play in supporting and holding INGOs accountable. We want INGOs to consider what and who they are commissioning when they are engaging consultancy support, and hope that they will invest in strengthening the local/national civil society support sector.

Currently, too many INGOs commission consultancy from the global minority in service of the global majority – so we are focused on growing the supply and connections of ethical and values-driven consultants in global majority contexts, on the one hand, and influencing the INGO sector in their commissioning/demand for these consultants on the other. Through working in this way we intend to contribute to shifting power in who is providing civil society support, what knowledges are prioritized and valued, how consultancy is positioned and contributes to long-term resilient, diverse sustainable, inclusive and impactful local civil society.

Our new strategy is based on analysis that there is a need for sector transformation to redress (and repair) historic injustice and build for the future. This leads us to emphasize the importance of locally available support that is contextually appropriate, but also connected globally to have broader impact to enable wider systems change.

Transforming organizational culture

Our new strategic framework is taking us in a different direction; asking us to reflect on previously held assumptions about our role and contribution to civil society; to challenge what we have held closely in terms of quality and expertise; and to value more deeply the longer-term eco-system development, over the short term output focused approach to consultancy.  We need to listen, engage, unlearn and relearn; and we cannot be totally clear on the implications for us as an organization in where we will get to and what we will look like in the future.

This can be difficult to navigate – individually and organizationally, and for this reason we are taking an adaptive approach to our strategy, emphasizing our commitment to test and learn, to be imaginative and disruptive in our vision, but prioritize collective self-care, emotional and physical well-being, and where necessary be incremental in our journey to get there.

Read Kate’s reflection on INTRAC’s year of change here.

Watch Kate speak about INTRAC’s  ecosystem approach to civil society support on The Power Shift: Decolonising Development podcast here.    

Read about what INTRAC’s strategy for ethical consultancy here.

Read more in the series #RoadFromBogotá: Perspectives on how INGOs are faring as they work to #ShiftThePower and the accompanying series #RoadFromBogotá: Perspectives on how CSOs are faring as they work to #ShiftThePower