❓How can organizations strategically harness ecosystem resources instead of relying solely on external funding?

❓Why is trust the ultimate accelerator of change, and how can we design for trust at scale?

❓What are the most powerful levers of systemic transformation, and how can social change leaders identify and activate them?

In this episode of Rethink Social Change Podcast, I had the pleasure to sit down with Sanjay Purohit for one of my most insightful conversations to reflect on these questions.

Sanjay is a systems thinker and the architect of #SocietalThinking , a transformative approach to tackling big, urgent, and complex challenges at scale. As the Chief Curator of The Center for Exponential Change https://centreforexponentialchange.org/, Sanjay has worked with 500+ changemakers across 20 countries, pioneering new ways to rethink scale, speed, and sustainability in #socialimpact .

Together, we explored:

🚶🏽‍♀️ Why scale is not a destination, but a journey and how framing the right big question can set the course for transformation.
⏱ The dance of timing. When to move fast, when to consolidate, and when to step back to sustain impact.
🔑 Trust as the currency of change. Why "transformation happens at the speed of trust" and how to design for it at scale.
🌍 From distributing solutions to distributing the ability to solve and leveraging networks for lasting, systemic impact.
📊 Rethinking monitoring & evaluation. Why real success is about progress, not just outcomes, and why listening to communities at scale is key.
🛠️ The levers of systemic transformation and how to pull them at the right time to create momentum.

Sanjay’s Think series offers a new vocabulary for change leaders navigating today’s dynamic, unpredictable systems. If you’re a #socialchange practitioner, #funder, or #ecosystem builder seeking to rethink how we create impact in a fast-changing world, this conversation is a must-listen.

Tune in now and let’s push the boundaries of what’s possible in social change.

💡Access the Think Series and Apurva A.I., which we mention in the discussion, below:

#ThinkScale https://societalthinking.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Think-Scale-Mobile.pdf

#ThinkSpeed https://societalthinking.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Think-Speed-Mobile.pdf

#ThinkSustain https://societalthinking.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Think-Sustain-Mobile.pdf

Apurva A.I. https://apurva.ai

#RethinkSocialChange #scalingimpact #trust #SocietalThinking #SystemsLeadership #socialtransformation #impact

What happens when you sit down with an AI expert who doesn’t sugarcoat the hype? You get a conversation like this one.

In this episode, I speak with Yasmina Kazitani who’s spent years at the cutting edge of AI, blockchain, and gaming. She’s not a social change practitioner, and that’s exactly why I wanted her perspective.

We explore the big promises and hard truths of AI: Can it help marginalized communities gain power? Will it transform healthcare and education, or just reinforce existing inequalities? And, perhaps the biggest question of all: is AI as good (or as bad) as we are?

Yasmina doesn’t hold back and she doesn't mince her words. She breaks down the hype vs. reality, calls out the ethics gap in AI, and challenges the way we think about power, control, and the future of technology.

This episode is different, no ReThink Social Change Cards today, just a candid, exploratory conversation about the intersection of AI and social change.

What’s your take?

Is AI a tool for justice, or just another cog in the system?

Let us know in the comments!

#socialchange #ai #aiforgood #techforchange #ethics #rethinksocialchange

Should evaluators JUST measure progress, or should they actively shape it?

Let’s start 2025 with a somewhat disruptive question 😮

I sat down with Khalil Bitar, to explore how evaluation can drive real, lasting change. From decolonizing the field to amplifying youth-led innovations, Khalil shows us that evaluators can be activists for equity, justice, and systemic transformation.

If you want to explore more of Khalil’s ideas, he wrote these two articles to push the field toward meaningful, context-driven action:

💡SEAT (A Social Equity Assessment Tool for Evaluation)

Because you can’t talk about progress if voices on the margins aren’t part of the story. https://tinyurl.com/2s...

💡ToE (A Practitioner’s Guide to Constructing a 'Theory of Evaluation')

Designed to shift evaluation from checking boxes to driving genuine, context-rooted change. https://tinyurl.com/4u...

Tune in to reimagine evaluation as a potent force for change 🎧

#ReThinkSocialChange #Podcast #evaluation #socialchange #inclusion

Social change. That process through which societal norms, values, structures, and practices evolve is anything but simple. It's messy, it’s dynamic and it’s unpredictable. For years, I’ve been toying with one question: how do we design initiatives that are not only effective but truly meaningful in a world that is neither linear nor static?

In this ever-shifting landscape, the pressure on #NGOs and #CSOs to deliver is relentless. Less funding. Tighter deadlines. Fiercer competition. I know that rush all too well. The race to finalize reports after countless rounds of edits, the scramble to execute activities amidst the ebb and flow of collective action, the mad rush of chasing partners' financial reports delayed an unforeseen challenges to finally report our spending.

I’ve been there: charging forward, head down, ticking boxes. Getting the job done.

But as Harvard Business School Professor Giada Di Stefano reminds us in « Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance », we should do less doing and more thinking.

When I put on my M&E (monitoring and evaluation) glasses, I see the missed opportunities for learning and reflection. It’s not for a lack of willingness but often a lack of prioritization and organizational will, despite what’s written in strategies or program documents. Moments for genuine inquiry and deep understanding are rare, and when they happen, they’re often structured in ways that fail to allow for, let alone, capture the richness of multiple perspectives.

In 2016, I set out to change that. I designed the ReThink Social Change Cards as a thinking kit to help changemakers reflect on what they do, how they do it, and the impact they’re having, especially within the constraints and complexities of their contexts. The cards are a tool for clarifying approaches, mapping strategies, sparking bold ideas to be able to drive meaningful action. 🌟

Since then, I’ve used them to facilitate reflection sessions with clients to help them navigate the complexity of social change programming. And as some of you know, I have been using them to guide conversations with podcast guests for a year now.

Curious about what they are and how they work? In this episode, I unpack the structure of the cards, how I use them, and how they help tackle the messy realities of social change. I even dive into a concrete example to make it real.

Reflection isn’t just a pause. it’s a recalibration; an actualization. It’s how we realign our teams, rethink our approaches, and ultimately unlock more profound change.

How do you use reflection to fuel your work? Let me know in the comments below.

Kevin L. Brown’s "The Theory of Change Cheat Sheet" I used to walk you through an example can be downloaded here: https://kevinlbrown.substack.com/p/a-theory-of-change-cheat-sheet

You can contact me on: ratiba@thetoccreative.com or DM me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/ratiba-taouti-cherif-3299002/

#SocialChange #Reflection #MeaningfulAction #ReThinkSocialChange

English below

Comment l'évaluation peut-elle évoluer pour aborder le monde complexe et rapide dans lequel nous vivons ?

Je me suis entretenue avec l'évaluateur Marocain Salah Bouyousfi pour explorer cette question. Il a récemment co-écrit des articles intéressants avec Miche Ouedraogo :
• Évaluation des interventions complexes : Lisez-le ici
• L'IA et les Big Data dans l'évaluation : Découvrez leur revue ici

Dans sa réflexion et sa pratique, Salah repousse les limites avec des approches innovantes, systémiques et conscientes de la complexité pour améliorer l’évaluation des programmes et des politiques.

De la définition de l'analyse de contribution et des approches participatives à l'exploitation de l'IA, nous avons discuté de la façon dont les nouveaux outils d'évaluation transforment notre manière de démontrer les effets de programmes multi-facettes et de plue en plus interconnectés.

Que vous soyez évaluateur ou praticien du changement social, ces méthodes élargissent la manière de concevoir et de mettre en œuvre des programmes et des politiques plus significatifs et inclusifs.

Écoutez et partagez vos réflexions dans les commentaires 👇🏻

***************************************************

How can evaluation evolve to tackle the complex, fast-paced world we’re navigating today?

I sat down with Moroccan evaluator Salah Bouyousfi to dive into this very question. He recently co-authored some interesting papers with Miche Ouedraogo on topics like:

• Streamlining Complex Intervention Evaluation: Read it here
• AI and Big Data in Evaluation: Read their literature review here

In his thinking and practice Salah is pushing boundaries with innovative, systemic and complexity-aware approaches to improve program and policy evaluation.

From defining contribution analysis and participatory approaches to leveraging AI, we discussed how new evaluation tools are reshaping how we demonstrate the effects of multi-faceted and inter-connected programs.

Whether you're an evaluator or a social change practitioner, these methods open the aperture on how we design and implement more meaningful, inclusive programs and policies.

Tune in, hope it's useful and please do share your thoughts below.

#socialchange #evaluation #participation #equity #AI #bigdata

How can we harness the energy of those driving social change?

By staying grounded in our values, while navigating a world that's evolving faster than ever.

Was really looking forward to kicking off Season 2 of the podcast with Ruby Quantson Davis. A change-making powerhouse with years of experience in navigating complex social transformations, Ruby is currently Senior Learning and Impact Advisor at Peace Direct , Associate Member of #WesleyHouse in #cambridge UK and a faculty member at the Deliberative Democracy Institute.

This conversation is an opportunity to explore how to balance speed with thoughtful, deliberative processes, and why embracing plurality and different voices is essential in shaping meaningful progress.

Here are some of the thought-provoking points we discussed:

- The Pace of Change: In a world that’s constantly speeding up, meaningful change often feels like it’s moving in slow motion. We talk about how to reconcile the urgency for quick results with the need for thoughtful, strategic action that will last.

- Beyond the Buzzwords: While many organizations tout progressive goals, it’s not enough to just talk the talk. We discuss how real change comes from understanding the deeper motivations behind actions, and why it's critical to ensure that actions align with stated goals.

- The Value of Reflection: In a project-driven world, taking time to pause and reflect often feels like a luxury. We explore why creating space for reflection is key to ensuring that we’re learning from our experiences and adapting as needed.

- The Power of People: The people at the heart of social change are often overlooked, yet they are the driving force behind lasting transformation. We talk about the importance of investing in people, creating spaces for diverse voices, and ensuring they’re supported to keep pushing forward, even as the landscape shifts.

Tune into the full episode to find out more and do share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks,
Ratiba

#SocialChange #DeliberativeChange #Leadership #Reflection #EmbracingPlurality #SocialImpact #podcast #rethinksocialchange

Learn to discern.

That was the name of a component implemented by @irexdc and a part of the youth engagement @Ma3anTunisia program I worked on. Back then, my sons were still in elementary school and called me mom, so media literacy was of an intellectual interest to me back then.

Fast forward four years, and now I'm "bruh." My kids navigate screens and sites like Formula One drivers, know a gazillion AI sites that can help do everything but clean their room…

Learn to discern! An important mantra for teens and adults alike in our “fake” new(s) world.

🎙️ So you can imagine my pleasure to host Janette Ballard on the ReThink Social Change podcast 🌟

Janette is an award-winning documentary film director turned media literacy consultant through her company Be Smart Cookie https://www.besmartcookie.co.uk. Her diverse portfolio includes collaborations with the BBC, NGOs, schools, and a major law training firm. Her expertise. Unmatched!

Janette’s media literacy work is built on a 20-year career as a @BBC journalist, with pivotal roles in teams like RealityCheck , #Panorama, #digitalstorytelling training at the Academy, policy development, and BBC Northern Ireland. In 2017, Janette spearheaded the BBC’s media and news literacy programs, Young Reporter (UK) and #BeyondFakeNews (BBC World Service in Kenya, Nigeria, India, Brazil, Serbia).

The 4️⃣ cards that were randomly drawn to guid our conversation were:
🃏Historical context
🃏Community change
🃏Technical Support
🃏Scope

We touched on so many aspects of media language, source and ever changing landscape, we played a “game”, she shared tips and approaches; and now I am looking for a "fact checker” training for the kids 😁 I’ll say no more! Tune in to the podcast to hear her insights on navigating the digital landscape and fostering media literacy for social change! 💡

Hope you’ll enjoy it.

🎁 If you’re a #teacher , caretaker, #parent , #youthcenter worker Janette offers great resources on her website, some of which are free.

🔸Free Courses https://www.besmartcookie.co.uk/free-courses
🔸Family toolkit https://www.besmartcookie.co.uk/family-toolkit

And here are some of the media literacy games she mentioned

👩🏻‍💻The BBC iReporter https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-8760dd58-84f9-4c98-ade2-590562670096 where kids are invited to publish a story, on a “BBC Live” site, that will be judged on accuracy, impact and speed.

👩🏻‍💻The Bad New Game https://www.getbadnews.com/en It turns media literacy on its head by exposing players to severely weakened doses of the stategies that are used in the production of fake news to stimulate the production 'mental antibodies' against misinformation💡

👩🏻‍💻Media Smart educational games https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/educational-games
Would love to hear your experience, thoughts and any resources you’ve found useful in the comments below 🙏🏻

🇲🇦This was my last recording out of Morocco! Packing my house as I write this and heading east… See you soon for another episode.

#MediaLiteracy #DigitalLiteracy #Podcast #Education #SocialChange #JanetteBallard #youth #teens #digital #storytelling #fakenews #news #content #contentgeneration #discernment #podcast #socialchange

Je fais une petite parenthèse en ce jour d'anniversaire pour poster sur mon dernier podcast avec Khadim Dieng 🎙

Nous nous sommes rencontré à #tambacounda au centre du #senegal 🇸🇳 il y a plus de 10 ans dans le cadre du projet de renforcement des capacités de l’USAID mis en oeuvre par FHI360 (à l'époque AED). J 'ai appuyé 3 organisations sénégalaises qui voulaient améliorer leur système de suivi & évaluation et c'était une véritable chance que de trouver Khadim à la tête du département suivi S&E de #GADEC, le Groupe d'Action pour le Développement Communautaire. Nous avons travaillé ensemble à la refonte complète du système de suivi & évaluation de l 'organisation qui nous a même conduit à formuler des recommandations sur le plan stratégique.

Vous verrez que Khadim est un passionné et cette passion, bien raisonnée, s’exprime pleinement dans son travail regional pour l 'organisation Terre des Hommes Suisse .

Nous avons parlé de participation infanto -juvénile en abordant notamment les différentes étapes de l’Echelle de Hart https://ymhac.rnao.ca/sites/default/files/2017-10/%C3%89chelle%20de%20Hart.pdf .

Nous nous sommes aussi attardés sur leur contribution qui s'inscrit dans l’initiative https://joining-forces.org/ , un groupe d’organisations internationales qui utilise leur pouvoir collectif pour accélérer le changement et garantir aux enfants leurs droits.

Enfin, et c’est ce que j’ai trouvé le plus fascinant, le soucis d’ancrer l’appui technique aux associations locales de Terre des Hommes Suisse sur une période de 12 ans! Ils offrent un parcours complet de différentes étapes à la fois inspirant et qui fait abstraction des modes et petits projets qui minent le secteur et n’engendre que peu de changements significatifs. Cela en effet permet 'de mieux comprendre, suivre et structurer les changements au niveau d’une organisation en intégrant une perspective systémique’ (voir la méthodologie des 5 capacités développée par https://ecdpm.org/ en 2002.)

Oh j’allais oublier les cartes qui ont guidé notre conversation étaient comme une feuille de route bien balisée 🙂

🃏Beneficiaries

🃏Partenariats

🃏Changement organisationnel

🃏Pérennisation

J’espère que vous trouverez la discussion utile avec des idées interessantes à émuler si vous travaillez avec des associations locales et/ou sur le droit des enfants!

N’hésitez pas à nous laisser des commentaires 👇🏻 et à contacter Khadim Dieng directement pour en savoir d’avantage sur son travail au #Senegal, #Mali, #BurkinaFaso ou #Haiti.

Et moi je vous salut jusqu’au prochain épisode!