Theory of Change Co-Design

Organisation: Refugee Action

The project: Launching a bold, ambitious, systems-changing strategy is a big moment in an organisation, especially when it’s the product of a deeply collaborative process driven by Experts by Experience, but it can throw up as many questions as answers. Refugee Action asked me to help them begin to answer these questions through the co-design of a Theory of Change.

We all know that change is not linear, and any change involving justice and power shifts even less so. So we worked with the concept of ‘tipping points’ in the system to enable their overall mission to end the hostile environment for refugees. We used 3 Horizons thinking to map out a future world, focused down on ‘Min Specs’ to get us there, and then zoomed in on a set of approaches that have greatest potential to shift the dial given continuing hostility across government and the media. Finally, to support use of the Theory of Change across the organisation, I created a resource allocation tool to supercharge collective, strategic decision-making.

Pat Joseph (she/her) and Vernon Freyer were amazing thought partners at different points in this process, offering wisdom and accountability as we sought to keep racial justice centred as a core strategic pillar in this work. A heartfelt thank you to both of them.

“I just wanted to say how impressed I feel with your way of thinking, contributions and patience with us. You always seem to find a way to tie things together in such a helpful way. It is a pleasure to work with you” – Asli Tatliadim, Head of Campaigns

“I wanted to say a huge thank you for all your work on this, for herding us well when we had divergent viewpoints, for challenging us and bringing in fresh perspectives and for being flexible as internal messaging and external context changed during the time of the project” – Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive