Stories shape narratives; narratives create beliefs and beliefs determine reality. Inclusivus redresses the consequences of lacking a voice and agency—pernicious threats to equality and human prosperity—and supports effective and sustainable interventions. We respond to socio-political challenges by highlighting extraordinary stories of individual and communal capacity to overcome inequality, pove
rty and violence, and by supporting those efforts. Inclusivus works through training, advocacy, and data-driven research to support vulnerable communities, inform development policy and practice, and challenge systems and norms that create and deepen inequality. What we believe:
Inclusivus believes that every voice matters and that communities have the instincts, experience and assets necessary to identify and address their most pressing development challenges. The current development paradigm needs to be upended – rather than experts analyzing and diagnosing problems from a deficit perspective, donors and policy-makers should be engaging with community representatives to learn from them, assessing their assets and strengths and allowing them to lead the way toward sustainable solutions that fit their communities. What we do:
Putting our beliefs into practice, we follow a simple rule – listen first! We trust people’s lived experiences and instinctive knowledge and work with them to first tell their unique stories, catalyzing processes of individual and community change. In addition, we work with them and the broader donor and development community to ensure that these stories and innate local assets are at the forefront of local problem-solving. This process places communities in the driver seat, so to speak, rather than leaving them as passive recipients. As these communities build their capacities and own sense of power they are able to continue to improve their local situation based on their own [negotiated] visions for their future and the future of their children. How we do it:
Work with individuals within particular communities to tell their own stories in a way that has meaning and impact – for the teller as well as the hearers. Also collect data to place the challenge(s) in broader context to help listeners understand the scale and broader context of the challenge and how s/he can take very seriously a simple works with marginalized communities to tell their unique stories and identify their particular skills and capacities to overcome challenges and create sustainable, local solutions. As the name suggests, we believe that all voices need to be included – that people who are too often the “object” of development processes need to be the authors of those processes, working from a sense of individual and community capabilities [or assets?] and potential, rather than focusing on deficits. [add here if want to highlight specific communities…?]
Our Impact:
Inclusivus redresses the consequences of lacking a voice and agency—pernicious threats to equality and human prosperity—and supports effective and sustainable interventions. Currently, social change processes and development practice is very often driven by “expert interventions” based on analysis of community deficits. Despite best intentions, this serves to further disempower people and ignores the innate and inherent power of individual agency and community assets. Inclusivus seeks to change this dynamic by working with individuals and communities to tell their unique stories, finding their inner power and building agency in the process. We combine international development with a human-centric design, telling stories that can change minds, hearts, and systems.
