Barefoot Academy of Governance

13/03/2026

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

This question was at the heart of our 2-day workshop with a S*x Workers' Rights organisation, the third workshop since last year.

Around 25 women gathered to analyse and understand their present context and conditions as they move forward. Through a group exercise we explored the relationship between their organisation and various stakeholders. They stepped into the shoes of stakeholders, namely the State, Donors, and Civil Society groups, to develop an outsiders' perspective. This exercise revealed that most of the stakeholders' influence over the organisation was pretty clear if not straightforward unlike that of the s*x workers community.

A 2-decade-old movement turned organisation with a legacy of confronting state and police violence against s*x workers and championing their rights and dignity is now confronted with a serious question — 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬?

Everyone agreed that the bond between the organisation and the community had weakened over the years. We spent time unraveling the reasons and ideating a plan of action to address the same. Two crucial insights emerged:

a. One cannot move forward with their eyes fixed backward. The organisation must engage with its present conditions plainly instead of harking back to 'good old days'. Legacy inspires hope and hands down lessons which should be applied creatively to address the current challenges.

b. The staff, especially the Coordinators who were/are s*x workers themselves, play a key role in shaping the way forward. While several factors can influence the gap between the organisation and the community, only the coordinators can consciously intervene in bridging this gap by changing their approach. This requires them to break away from their patterned thinking and innovate new approaches and practices — simply put, embrace leadership responsibilities in building the organisation.

At the end of 2 days, the participants went back with simple a plan of action including re-starting the practice of holding community meetings on the field and reviewing its effectiveness when we meet again in 3 months.

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You can view the same post on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7438121781552435200

19/02/2026

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙄𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙧

"𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 10 𝘬𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 [𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨] 𝘪𝘴."

This reflection from a participant captures the essence of our recently concluded 3-day workshop in Sittilingi Panchayat, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu.

Around 35 members, including leadership from Tribal Health Initiative – Porgai Artisans Association, Sittilingi valley Organic Farmers Association - SOFA, Vanavil Tailors Association – and Thulir Sittilingi School, gathered to collectively chart the way forward for their organisations, all anchored in a shared vision for Sittlingi Valley.

Through a series of semi-structured sessions, we:
- Explored the core values that shape and define us as individuals and organisations

- Challenged the silo-isation that limits cross-organisational collaboration and visioning

- Evolved draft organisational change charters, synthesising inputs from all participating organisations

- Identified possibilities for both personal growth and systemic change within their organisations

We are currently in Year 2 of the programme, working with the second cohort to initiate organisational change projects, nurture inter-organisational collaboration, and facilitate the collective imagining of a sustainable and resilient Sittilingi Valley.

The 3 days ended with a sense of hope, enthusiasm, and the inevitable yet integral dose of confusion that accompanies any transformative process.

05/02/2026

Barefoot Academy of Governance has been busy on the ground — just not online.

Since 2022, our work has spanned education, health, and organisational development, all with one aim: democratising governance and enabling development with dignity.

The journey has brought challenges, wins, learnings, and relationships that make the work deeply worthwhile. Of course, we are building upon the work that our members and mentors have been doing for the past 30 years.

We’re now bringing that journey here — to share, learn together, and explore ways to collaborate.

More soon.
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Barefoot Academy of Governance has been busy on the ground — just not online. Since 2022, our work has spanned education, health, and organisational development, all with one aim: democratising governance and enabling development with dignity. The journey has brought challenges, wins, learnings, a...