Planning for systems change: Reflections from Co-Impact’s Design Phase Workshop

By Lakshmi Sundaram, Co-Impact Gender Fund Advisor

It was a privilege to take part in Co-Impact’s design workshop in Mexico, with program partners from Brazil, Kenya, Mexico and Nigeria. I was particularly excited about this opportunity because I’ve spent many years working on different aspects of systems change, and I now support organisations who are grappling with how to create change at scale on a range of issues. One of the Co-Impact team members described some of the participants as “national goddesses of human rights work”; with 2023 having been such a tough year, I was looking forward to being inspired in the presence of deities.

The aim of the design workshop was to help program partners set the foundation for a year-long journey to build their systems change strategies, and the agenda allowed participants to take the time to learn about and play with different concepts, ideas and approaches. The stunning town of Cuernavaca provided a tranquil backdrop for some deep thinking and new connections, without the distractions participants normally face in their leadership roles. It was an inspiring and energising few days. Here are a few points that struck me:

• Global solidarity is invaluable, especially when there are no easy answers: a few participants unfortunately experienced problems with immigration when entering Mexico – and this provided all of us with a stark and sobering reminder of the fundamentally unequal systems at work around the world. The participants rallied, however, and began their work together with a deep sense of solidarity and a reinforced resolve to do everything possible to challenge and change these discriminatory systems.

Despite coming from very different regional and national contexts, and speaking three different languages, program partners connected quickly, laughed together, and united around a sense of common purpose. This was particularly important when they started tackling difficult problems over the course of the workshop: peers could bring fresh perspectives and share lessons from their own contexts. Participants walked away at the end of the workshop knowing that they are part of a global community of like-minded activists – it may sound trite, but it is powerful.

• Moving from scaling up to working at scale requires new ways of thinking: over the course of the workshop, participants began shifting their thinking from scaling up their brilliant interventions, to thinking about how to work at scale to solve the problems faced by much larger populations beyond their direct reach.

This is no small semantic change: it required program partners to take a step back and look with fresh eyes at the people they are serving, to understand their current realities and barriers, and to imagine and create a new world where all people’s rights are respected and their needs are met. It requires an analysis of political economy and of who holds power in local and national contexts. It requires thinking creatively about what partnerships need to be built, and what levers could be pulled to create large-scale change.

• Reimagining systems change from a feminist perspective can be thrilling – but also emotional: while the concept of systems change is not new, it has often been quite technocratic, with systems and governments being viewed as generally neutral entities. What was particularly exciting for me was that Co-Impact’s program partners all came at this work with a feminist perspective and a deep understanding of intersectionality. Many of the participants have been lifelong activists, calling out and working to dismantle unjust and violent systems that have been actively denying the rights of marginalized people, often at great personal risk.

So, shifting mindsets to think about how to work more closely with state actors and influence their behaviour can be complicated and emotional. This was another area where the peer support amongst program partners proved invaluable. The Co-Impact team was also on hand to provide sage advice, encouraging partners to dig deeper into the different facets of the existing system, recognising that that there are always people and offices within systems whose behaviours can be influenced for positive change.

Against the backdrop of upcoming elections in many countries and a growing backlash against human rights, it can be incredibly tough for activists and change makers to pause, question their assumptions, dream big, think strategically and creatively about how to change the lives of the most marginalized. The design workshop provided the program partners who gathered in Cuernavaca with the space and momentum to tackle the obstacles they will likely face during the next year and beyond. Their tenacity, experience, and brilliance left me incredibly hopeful, and I can’t wait to see these initiatives continue to transform systems and positively impact communities around the world.