New articles: How international organizations and funders can practice democracy
/How can international organizations and funders practice democracy and social justice? People Powered staff and members recently published two articles with big lessons:
How to make better decisions online
In Nonprofit Quarterly, Josh Lerner (People Powered) and Rose Longhurst (Open Society Foundations) explore how funders and organizations can use a new wave of digital platforms to make democratic decisions about grants, budgets, and policies.
Decision-making, like much of our lives, has moved online during the pandemic. At the same time, there are growing calls for funders, organizations, and institutions to make decision-making more inclusive and shift power to impacted communities. How can we make more democratic decisions online?
The article reviews how People Powered and other institutions are using a new wave of digital participation platforms. It draws on our Digital Participation Platforms resource center to explain why you should consider using the platforms, what to watch out for, and what you need to know before you start.
Organizing a transnational solidarity for social change through participatory practices
In the American Journal of Community Psychology, four People Powered members share the global lessons from the first year of the organization. Carolin Hagelskamp, Celina Su, Karla Valverde Viesca, and Tarson Núñez draw on decolonial frameworks to identify concrete practices that international organizations can use to enact justice and shift power:
“We argue that People Powered's decolonial roots, collectively articulated values and commitments, radical transparency, and its consistent employment of meaningful participation and reflexivity have built and are likely to sustain this transnational solidarity for social change. At the same time and perhaps critical for fostering solidarity and social change in the long term, People Powered embraces, rather than evades, tensions and contradictions that emerge in these efforts.”
Do you know people at international organizations or foundations that are interested in democracy and social change? Share this post with them!