Organisations across the civil society, public sector and corporate sectors are increasingly recognising the power of providing a platform for people with lived experience to make their communications and campaigning more authentic, persuasive and accountable. But while the case for empowering and centring people with lived experience is clear, many organisations still struggle with how to do it well, meaningfully, and responsibly. We recently wrote about this challenge here.
Our series of live sessions will explore this challenge, with insights from leading advocacy experts.
We’ll look at how to shift communications from speaking for people to creating platforms to empower people to speak for themselves and why this shift leads to deeper connection, stronger advocacy, and better outcomes.
You’ll discover practical insights on developing a best practice approach to advocacy communications and the positive impact it can have on your communications and campaigning.
Session #1
Forster Director, Peter Gilheany, spoke to Karina Graham. She is the Women’s Involvement Lead at Pause, a UK charity that works to improve the lives of women who have had more than one child removed from their care, was herself supported by Pause and is an expert by Experience for the Department for Education’s National Practice Group.
Watch on demand and read insights from the session here.
SESSION #2
We spoke with Kafia Omar, Advocacy and Communications Manager for Action For Humanity/Syria Relief, a global NGO delivering life-saving assistance across 14 countries. Her work centres on Syria, shaping policy influence and ensuring the voices of conflict-affected communities are heard at the highest level.
Watch on demand and read insights from the session here.
These live sessions covered:
- What meaningful involvement really looks like
- How organisations can avoid tokenism and create genuine influence
- How people with lived experience can strengthen advocacy, storytelling and public engagement
- Practical advice for professionals who want to involve minoritised communities and people but don’t know where to start
- An open Q&A with the audience
SESSION #3: PUTTING ADVOCACY AT THE HEART OF PARTNERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS
This session is an opportunity to hear directly from the people involved in TRANSFORM, an impact accelerator led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and EY, sharing reflections on the communications decisions and lessons that have helped shape the programme’s approach to advocacy, storytelling and stakeholder engagement.
Forster Director, Peter Gilheany, spoke to Lisa Hawkes, Global Sustainability Senior Manager at Unilever and programme lead for TRANSFORM and Mary Ngechu, Founder and Patron of TakaTaka Ni Mali, one of the impact enterprises that TRANSFORM has supported over the years.
SESSION #4
What’s next for advocacy communications in the Global Majority?
Discover practical insights on using advocacy communications to amplify global majority voices in campaigns for change.
Forster Director, Peter Gilheany, will be in conversation with Chris Madden, Head of Advocacy at marine conservation NGO Blue Ventures. Chris will bring practical insights into how organisations can ensure communities are not simply featured in campaigns, but are meaningfully involved in shaping advocacy, influencing decisions and telling their own stories.