Small Business Grant

SummaryHow should we think about the ‘collective journey to equitable development’ of Northern founded NGOs, national NGOs and their funders?What obstacles stand in the way of continuing on that journey? What is ERA (Equitable, Resilient and Accountable) in development and why it’s needed?In this NGO Soul+Strategy podcast episode, I interview Kim Kucinskas, Director, Community Strategy at Humentum, on nonprofit operations as a driver of transformation.Kim’s Bio:• Director, Community Strategy, Humentum• Director, Member Engagement and Services• Several other roles in Humentum since 2012• Worked in Namibia on issues related to local epidemics• Fundraising role at the International Institute for Cooperation and DevelopmentWe discuss: • The pressure is building for significant change in the northern INGO sector, it’s coming from all frontiers• There is strategic power in the operations model; if we change it in a significant way, big change happens in the power distribution between northern INGOs, funders and national NGOs• Humentum argues the above points in their new 3-part series of reports on ERA: how to move to an Equitable (E), Resilient (R) and Accountable (A) development sector• But this will only happen if northern INGOs, funders and national NGOs make significant changes in their institutional architecture, their people and culture, funding and their risk frameworks• Institutional Architecture: within this, organizations have to have autonomy for the sector to be equitable, resilient and accountable• People and Culture: who is recruited, and works where; a shift in ‘headquarters’ conception from location to role-based; fair and equitable compensation, etc.• Funding: the islands of innovation that are happening need to become ‘mainland’• Accountability: within this, a shift from risk transfer to risk sharing is required• Be mindful: the way the process of #shiftthepower is happening is actually reflective of the very ways in which power is still heldQuotes:“There is strategic value and potential in operations; not as “back-office functions” but as drivers of transformation”“We are at a tipping point in terms of significant NGO sector change”Here you can find all the podcasts:https://5oaksconsulting.org/podcast/Click the link below to subscribe to be alerted when new podcast episodes come out or when Tosca produces other thought leadership pieces. https://5oaksconsulting.org/email/Or email Tosca attosca@5oaksconsulting.org if you want to talk about your social sector organizational needs, challenges, and opportunities. You can find Tosca’s content by following her on her social media channels: Twitter: www.twitter.com/Tosca5OaksLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/toscabrunovanvijfeijken/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tosca5OaksTeachable: https://5oaks.teachable.com/