17. Hope Chigudu reflects back on the Global Gathering

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

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 our spaces
• The value of rituals, for individuals and communities
• The idea of accountability: In a world of external accountability and upward accountability, how are we accountable to ourselves?
• Ideas for how to follow-up the Global Gathering in a way that takes into consideration enthusiasm and energy

Hope Chigudu is feminist activist and a gender, organisational and development practitioner. In her earlier days in the women’s movement, she co-founded the Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network. She later used her skills in governance and management to serve as Chair of the Board of Urgent Action Fund-Africa and prior to this as chair of the Global Fund for Women. Hope is an internationally renowned consultant with experience in "healing" organisations, governance and creative monitoring and evaluation. She co-authored with Rudo Chigudu “Strategies for Building Organisations with a Soul.”

To learn more, check out:

• 10 session recordings from the Global Gathering on the CHS Alliance YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh1w1Ldo3QjUh7q_coN5ifrnUZqlop8cI
• “Strategies for Building an Organisation with a Soul” by Hope Chigudu and Rudo Chigudu, edited by Jessica Horn, published by the African Institute for Integrated Responses to VAWG and HIV/AIDS (AIR): http://airforafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Strategies-for-Building-an-Organisation-with-Soul-WEB.pdf

***We would like to give a special thanks to the Initiative’s supporters: the CHS Alliance members, the Government of Luxembourg, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (DFCO) and the Netherlands. Thanks to ICVA for collaborating in this joint project engaging leaders. And thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***