Redefining Expertise Through Participatory Social Change Work, with Alexa Kasdan

Today I’m talking with Alexa Kasdan, Director of Policy and Research at Demos, here in NYC. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Alexa for almost two decades. We met in the early 2000s when she was working at an incredible organization called Community Voices Heard in NYC, and I joined the board as an Ally Member. It was through Alexa, and her policy work alongside the members of CVH, that I first came to understand what participatory research and policy worked looked like in practice. And I fell in love with the model. So often, we talk about impact in the nonprofit sector as being on behalf of people and communities. What I love about what Alexa and I talk about today is that it offers an important reframe - how do you practice social change work in a way that engages and centers impacted people as partners in the work, rather than as subjects of the work? This is a great and very actionable episode about how to do social change work in a way that is more truly inclusive and equitable - whether you’re doing policy work, organizing work, or provide critical community programs or social services, there’s real gold in here for you.Resources MentionedCommunity Voices Heard:  www.cvhaction.org Register for my free training, Turn Your Social Change Vision Into A Nonprofit at richiebabbage.com/visiontolaunchWant to work together? Apply for the Next Level Nonprofit Mastermind, a high-touch coaching and training accelerator for established organizations with $1M+ budgets that are ready to design for impact sustained at scale.  Budget under $1M? Join Elevate and get proven step-by-step playbooks + coaching support to build each of the core elements of your nonprofit's operating system - strategic clarity, a fundraising engine, a high-performance team, and an active and engaged board!   Connect with me!LinkedInInstagramYouTube