The Social Change Pod
The Social Change Pod explores social change through conversations with activists, funders, and community builders. Episodes cover grassroots activism, innovative funding models, participatory grantmaking, and the power of collective action. Guests share practical advice and stories shaping community-driven movements. The podcast is produced by The Social Change Nest and The Social Change Agency, and was previously published as the SCA Podcast.
Episodes
036: Facing Fear with Trust: A Conversation on Funding & Community Resilience
What happens when the biggest risk isn't funding grassroots organisations, but failing to?In this episode, The Social Change Nest's own Ana Steiner is joined by Misbah Malik from Hope Not Hate, Oli Whittington from Our House UK and Veda Harrison from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to unpack what it really takes to build resilient communities in an age of fear, misinformation, and growing political div
035: Funding Change: Why Movements Need Flexible and Long-Term Support
Why does traditional philanthropy rely so heavily on rigid, transactional controls, and how is that micro-management stifling real, systemic change?Join The Social Change Nest's Kristen Woolf together with Claudia Giampietri from Healthy Food Healthy Planet and Sandra Kushrawi from Famtastisch Foundation as they unpack the urgent shift toward trust-based, flexible funding.Together, they explore wh
034: Rethinking Funding: Why Put Your Trust in Place-Based Groups
Join The Social Change Nest's Rufaro Mudavanho together with Elijah Williams from Brent Giving and Andy Crosbie and Rich Gibbons from Gateshead Community Bridgebuilders, on the latest episode of The Social Change Pod as they explore the power of place-based community work, highlighting how organisations like Gateshead Community Bridge Builders and Brent Giving empower local voices through particip
033: Paying People Fairly: Building Trust and Equity
Join The Social Change Nest's CEO, Esther Foreman and Rachel Smith, Creative Director of Make/Shift, on the latest episode of The Social Change Pod as they unpack what it really looks like to pay people fairly for their time, energy, and expertise, exploring how Payment for Involvement works in practice when you’re navigating the “messy middle” between big institutions and grassroots communities.
032: Fair Pay for Lived Experience: Lessons from Bristol City Council
Today we are talking about the mammoth topic of Payment for Involvement, part of our Payment for Involvement podcast series that we’ve been running over the past couple of months since the launch of the payment for Involvement playbook.In the previous episode, we explored why it’s so important for organisations to recognise and value lived experience and to pay people for their involvement.In this
031: Payment for Involvement - When Compensation Affects Benefits
What happens when you compensate people for their involvement, but doing so negatively impacts their eligibility for government benefits? Together, we'll unpack why paying people for their lived experience is the right thing to do, but also explore the challenges of doing this effectively without disrupting people's benefits. This is something we've been grappling with as an organisation for the
030: Join our board as a Non-Executive Director
Are you a renegade anarchist who loves rules, compliance and risk management? We're looking for a new Non-Executive Director to join The Social Change Nest board. In this episode Pete Treganna (Non-Executive Director) and Sapna Patel (Operations Director) discuss what the role involves and why we'd love for you to apply!Interested in being on the board of The Social Change Nest? Find out more and
029: We're in this together - Reflecting on movement trends in 2023
Tactics employed by social movements are evolving, strikes are enjoying unprecedented levels of public support, and communities are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.Anya Stern and Aggie Taylor discuss some of the movement trends they've been observing in 2023.What trends have you been noticing? Share your thoughts by tagging us on Twitter @SocialChangeAgHost: Anya Stern and Aggie T
028: What makes an effective protest movement with James Ozden from Social Change Lab
Esther Foreman and Rachel Krengel from The Social Change Agency meet up with James Ozden, Director at Social Change Lab to explore what it takes to build an effective protest movement.Topics covered include: - why some protest movements flourish (and some don't)- whether disruptive tactics work- the importance of shared identity and collaboration- the need for more funding to be directed to toward
027: Innovating funding with Chris Manion from the British Science Association
Today we're speaking with the Head of Grants at the British Science Association, Chris Manion. We'll be discussing The Ideas Fund, an innovative public engagement program that provides grants for community groups and researchers who have new ideas for addressing local challenges related to mental health and wellbeing. We'll also be looking at the role funders play in bringing about social change,
026: Leveraging pop culture for social change with Alice Sachrajda and Marzena Zukowska
In this episode, we chat to Alice Sachrajda and Marzena Zukowska, authors of New Brave World: The power, opportunities and potential of pop culture for social change in the UK.We explore the opportunities for leveraging pop culture for social change and share examples of where pop culture has already proven to be a powerful driver of social change.You can read the full 'New Brave World' report at:
025. The latest in participatory grantmaking and Shift The Power with Hannah Paterson
We check in with Hannah Paterson on the latest developments in participatory grantmaking and the Shift The Power movement. Plus, we discuss Hannah's new role as Senior Portfolio Manager – Innovation, Policy and Practice at the National Lottery Community Fund.
024. Everything I know about community building with Michael Parsons from Guy's and St Thomas' Charity
This episode is a conversation between our consultant Rachel Krengel and Michael Parsons, Portfolio Manager at Guy’s and St Thomas' Charity, which is a foundation dedicated to addressing health inequalities in urban areas. We’ve been working with them on a project to support 20 communities in Southwark and Lambeth during the Covid-19 emergency and beyond. We are piloting ways to get direct financi
023. Everything I know about community building with Lindon Rankin
In this episode, our consultant Rachel Krengel speaks to Lindon Rankin, who is an organiser at the African ‘n’ Caribbean Wellbeing Group based in Southwark. Lindon’s is one of the many community groups we at SCA support. In this podcast, Rachel talks to Lindon about his journey into community organising, his experiences of organising during the pandemic and how he believes grassroots groups can st
022. Everything I know about social movements with Amy Hulme, fair pay campaigner and consultant
In this podcast, speak to Amy Hulme, Senior Consultancy Manager at The Social Change Agency and fair pay campaigner, who reflects on her time campaigning for the Living Wage. She shares her journey into activism and discusses how to build a successful strategy, movement-building misconceptions and dealing with the slow pace of corporate behaviour change as a campaigner.
021. Everything I know about movements with Mita Desai, Young Trustees Movement
In this podcast, speak to Mita Desai, programme manager for the Young Trustees Movement. She shares her journey into activism and discusses how to build a successful strategy, movement-building misconceptions and balancing the need to lead with the need to let go of control.
020: Digital solutions for communities and campaigners with Brian Young (Part 2)
This is part 2 of a two-part interview featuring Brian Young, the Executive Director of Action Network in conversation with Betsy, our principal director.Action Network is a non-profit dedicated to providing cutting edge technology to the progressive movement.As we record this, we’re facing the corona pandemic induced lockdown and Betsy and Brian reflect on ways technology can bring communities to
019: Digital solutions for communities and campaigners with Brian Young (Part 1)
This is part 1 of a two-part interview featuring Brian Young, the Executive Director of Action Network in conversation with Betsy, our principal director. Action Network is a non-profit dedicated to providing cutting edge technology to the progressive movement.Brian discusses how to build power between people, rather than their online profiles. Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.orgFollow us on
018: Participatory grant-making with Hannah Paterson
In this episode, we're sitting down with Hannah Paterson a Churchill Fellow exploring participatory grant-making. Participatory grant-making (PGM) is a means of putting funding decisions into the hands of those affected by the decisions. Done right, it can fundamentally shift power blurring the traditional roles of ‘funder’ and ‘grantee’.Hannah will be running a session on PGM at our ‘Losing Cont
017: Funding movements and networks with Uma Mishra-Newbery
In this episode, we chat with Uma Mishra-Newbery, Executive Director of Women’s March Global, to talk through some of the challenges inherent in the funding sector and the opportunities that lie in changing the traditional approach. Uma is running a session at our ‘Losing Control in funding and commissioning event’ on the 4th March 2020. It will be a day of honest conversations with funders, grant
016: The 'business for good' movement with Jason Foo
In this episode, we chat to Jason Foo, CEO of BBD Perfect Storm, a ‘brand and cultural transformation agency’ who have put purpose at the heart of the work they do. Foo talks about appetite for social change in the business sector and the scope for social impact.Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.orgFollow us on Twitter at @SocialChangeAgHost: Kate EdwardsGuest: Jason FooProducer: Maria Mancuso
015: Why we need a Young Trustees Movement with Jo Wells
In this episode, we caught up with Jo Wells, director of the Blagrave Trust and founding funder of the Young Trustees Movement, which brings together a number of organisations with the aim of doubling the number of young people serving on charity sector boards over the next five years.Jo talks to us about her decision to get behind The Young Trustees Movement, why it is so necessary for the future
014: How to make young trusteeship meaningful with Tor Evans
In this episode, we speak with Tor Evans, the senior external relations manager for the Roundhouse who also sits on the Young Trustees Movement advisory board. The Roundhouse has been a leading voice in the push to recruit young trustees. They are trailblazers who have had young trustees for over a decade and even created a guide to youth governance in collaboration with the Arts Council.Tor share
013: The push for better hosting and facilitation with Pete Burden & José Barco
In this podcast Pete Burden introduces sociocracy, a consent-based decision making approach to organising. Pete is an organisational strategist, coach and facilitator with over 30 years’ experience working with purpose-driven businesses and organisations.In the second part of this episode, ‘Art of Hosting’ practitioner Jose Barco talks us through acting with purpose and the Art of Hosting approach
012: Nurturing fledgling social movements with Will Nicholson & Jake Woodier
It’s often the case that NGOs, philanthropists and funders want to help grassroots groups. But how do you fund a movement which has no leader, no address, and no bank account?And on the flip side, movements might be conflicted about taking this help. What if they're co-opted and their values are diluted, or what if more admin and professionalism upsets the volunteer-led spirit at the heart of what
011: Third sector staff wellbeing with Kristiana Wrixon (ACEVO)
In this episode we speak with Kristiana Wrixon, Head of Policy at ACEVO and leader of the research on bullying in the workplace and creating safer cultures.The Center for Mental Health and ACEVO recently published "In Plain Sight: Workplace Bullying in Charities and Implications for Leadership". This is the second report ACEVO have released following reports about bullying, abusive, and exploitat
010: Strategic communications for social change with Alice Sachrajda & Lena Baumgartner
In this episode we speak with Alice Sachrajda and Lena Baumgartner, the two authors of ‘More than Words’ - How communicating our shared values and forging mutual connections can bring hope for a new tomorrow.We discuss why good communicators should pay as much attention to how they make people feel as to the words they use. What it means to lead with shared values, why it is important to focus on
009: Young people changing the world with Rebekah (School Strike for Climate)
In this episode we speak with 15-year-old climate striker Rebekah from London about the climate movement, intergenerational relationships and power structures. Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.org Follow us on Twitter at @SocialChangeAgHost: Esther Foreman, CEO The Social Change AgencyGuest: RebekahProducer: Maria MancusoTheme music by Loyalty Freak Music
008: Catherine Wilkes & Colin Jeffrey at Losing Control 2019
In this episode we chat with Colin Jeffrey, volunteer for Thrive, and Catherine Wilkes from Designs in mind. Colin and Catherine talk about their impressions of the Losing Control 2019 conference.Losing Control brings together change makers from all kinds of backgrounds, sectors and positions to discuss and create bottom-up and collaborative approaches to social change. Losing Control is hosted by
007: Storytelling and power with Guy Pattison (Stronger Stories) at Losing Control 2019
In this episode we interview Guy Pattison, CEO and co-founder at Stronger Stories. At Losing Control 2019, Guy ran a session on storytelling and power titled "Whose story is it anyway?".We’re hardwired to use stories to make sense of the world, share ideas and find new ways to work together. But today, storytelling power is held by the 1% and overwhelmingly used to promote ideas that are bad for u
006: Women's rights with Jessica Horn (African Women's Development Fund)
In this episode, we speak to Jessica Horn, Director of Programmes for the African Women's Development Fund, who discusses feminist friendship and the need for non-colonial partnerships between activists in Africa and the UK.The AWDF is a grantmaking organisation based in Accra, Ghana that resources African women's organisations, activists and movements.Visit us at www.thesocialchangeagency.org Fol
005: Catherine Carter & Philipa Bragman (Change) at Losing Control 2019
In this episode we interview Catherine Carter (Lead Trainer) and Philipa Bragman (CEO) at Change. At Losing Control 2019, Catherine and Philipa ran a session on power and inclusion titled "Power and inclusion - Can power and inclusion work together?".The session was an embodied experiential workshop using Deep Democracy and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques. Change is a human rights organisation
004: Maff Potts (Camerados) at Losing Control 2019
“I’m not trying to replace the system, but I think the system is missing an essential component, which is the humanity of being a camerado” In the first part of this episode we interview Maff Potts, Director at Camerados after his talk at Losing Control 2019 titled "Mission before preservation: Taking a chainsaw to traditional models of governance to unleash a movement". In the second part, Annie
003: Joe Doran (Lankelly Chase) on Losing Control 2019
“With the action inquiry that I’m working on, one of the things that I keep building into is to keep challenging my own assumptions by working with different people who do different things. For example testing methodologies with a fear practitioner.” In this episode of the SCA podcast we meet Joe Doran, Programme Manager at Lankelly Chase to talk about power, action enquiries and their approach to
002: Sally Byng (Barnwood Trust) on Losing Control 2019
“We need to think about how we can collectively build a culture in which we can grow old and we want our children to grow up in, which is welcoming and inclusive of everybody.” In this episode of the SCA podcast we meet Sally Byng, Chief Executive at Barnwood Trust to discuss the work they do and why we need to lose control. Barnwood Trust is one of the funders of Losing Control 2019. At the event
001: Marie-Claude Gervais (Versiti) on Losing Control 2019
“The scale of the changes ahead of us makes it especially urgent to involve more diverse people in the conversation.”In this episode we meet Marie-Claude Gervais, Research Director at Versiti to talk about power, inequalities and collaboration. We spoke to Marie-Claude ahead of Losing Control 2019 in Birmingham on 5-6th February where she ran a Teach Me session titled "Powering seldom-heard groups
