MOVING FROM IDEAS TO ACTION
Preparing for Change
Awareness: Aligning Intention & Action
Analysis: Power
Action: Working on Structures
Action: Improving Team Health
Accountability: Testing Ideas
UWC Resources
Preparing for Change
Awareness: Aligning Intention and Action
Analysis: Power
Action: Working on Structures
Action: Improving Team Health
Accountability: Testing Ideas
UWC Resources
We move through change each day – it is a constant in our lives. These are the building blocks of sustainability for living in this moment and throughout the long road ahead.
There can be a deep sense of urgency for change that drives us to action before we have fully aligned our purpose and outcomes. This can lead to disruptions, unnecessary conflict, and ultimate failure of our plans. Here are valuable guides for aligning intention and action to save energy, resources and time.
To make change in our society, we need to understand the fundamentals of how decision making happens, in our teams, through our social identities, and in our systems of power.
Work for diversity, equity and inclusion achieves lasting impact when we orient our energy towards structural change and integrate structural change tools into our programs and operations. This pathway provides support for analyzing structures and transforming them for justice.
Major strategic initiatives need the solid foundation of a healthy organization to flourish. This includes effective internal communications, focused decision-making, useful performance evaluation, life-giving management, and conflict resolution. It is important to routinely check in on the health of these systems and make necessary adjustments.
Breaking the status quo and opening up new possibilities for equity and freedom in our work requires innovative experiments. Teams must ensure that all members have the ability to act on the vision and goals they are co-creating. By leveraging design thinking, inclusive practices, productive evaluation, and a clarity around your purpose, outcomes and roles, teams can better execute these experiments and pilot programs.
Explore the interviews, frameworks, templates and articles created and published by Up With Community. Some of these resources have been distributed by our team and others published by partner organizations. We continue to add to this collection regularly.
In the world of social change, the stories that we tell can be an extremely powerful tool in shaping public opinion and influencing policy. Narratives, if framed in the right way, can be used to communicate with your audience, spark changes in their thinking, shift difficult conversations in a positive way to create more resilient and inclusive societies.
This resource includes lessons and tools for activists to bring about progressive narrative change.
Giving thanks: We share these resources in gratitude to all of our teachers and with appreciation for the value they have brought us. The field guide is a living resource that we are consistently adding to. We receive no payment or kickbacks for sharing. Access and use of these resources should be done at one’s own discretion. If you see a resource you like, we encourage you to reach out to the author.
Have a resource to add? We are always looking to expand the resources we can share. If you have a tool/resource/link you would like to share with UWC and its partners, please email us: research@upwithcommunity.org.
