A Word with Nicolette Naylor

Nicolette, I'm excited to have this interview with you. This is a tough time in the world with the erosion of rights and the many factors that are challenging philanthropy.  I'm interested to know what you, and we at EMpower, are called on to do differently in this moment.

I think the moment calls on philanthropy to firstly continue supporting the work. Now is not the time to retreat from supporting civil society. EMpower is in a really good position as for many years its model has been one of core, flexible, long-term funding. That was the demand before the current crisis, before USAID funding cuts, before the development sector retreated, before the context changed worldwide. And that remains relevant. 

But we have to go even further and look beyond. Philanthropy needs to consider how it defines sustainability and dependence. Are we setting people up to be continuously dependent on us and when we withdraw, they collapse? Or are we funding in a way that's allowing people to think about their own sustainability? What does a sustainability model look like not just for us but for grantees? Often, we think about our own longevity and our existence in the future. 

But is there a way to think about grant making models that allow grantees to build up reserves, to think about the future, to not spend down to a null balance, but to have some money left over? And to encourage creative thinking and reimagining how civil society organisations have been organised and what the grant relationship looks like?  For those of us who recognise that change takes time and are committed to long-term support, let’s push ourselves to think further about dependence, independence and sustainability, not just for ourselves but for our partners, and how the NGO model has been set up. 

We're still operating on a 1980s model - a very different time in the world. There was a lot more money. Funding civil society was seen as important and desirable.  But in today’s different context, is civil society set up for success? And how do we encourage our partners to reimagine themselves in terms of structure just as we encourage philanthropy to reimagine itself?  Can we provide support that allows civil society to think about different ways of being? I say this particularly coming from the African continent. Many organisations are keen to start thinking about what merger and acquisition models look like for civil society in this restrictive environment. This would have been unthinkable in the 90s when resourcing was more abundant. Do we now provide civil society with the support and tools to rethink their models and seize emerging opportunities? What does it look like to work with others and not foster more fragmentation and competition, but to bring organisations together, to think together around the moment we are in now? I think that’s the challenge philanthropy faces—to rethink its convening power and role to foster more collaboration and solidarity. And that’s another call to action. 

Important points! What you're saying about civil society applies to those of us that are in public foundations. Given the climate of scarcity and funding competition, how do we think differently and work collectively? Let's take the opportunity to reimagine. I’m sure your daily newsfeed is as dismal as mine. How do you maintain your sense of hope and optimism? 

I tend to think of this moment as it's bleak, there's a crisis, but there's also an opportunity to reimagine what was broken and what we were critiquing in the past. And so, the thing that's giving me hope is that even in this climate of scarcity, the work is continuing. You're seeing vibrant youth organisations, youth leadership continuing to do the work and a next generation of leadership that are doing things differently and willing to go the extra mile. What’s exciting to me is the local, regional, transnational connections that organisations are making now, when more than ever people on the continent are saying, what does solidarity look like among those in the US, with those in Asia? I saw this recently in Kenya where groups were saying we're not going to get money from big foundations, but we're going to think about horizontal ways of giving, we're going to do community mobilisation. The work will continue because the issue matters to us. That's leadership. 

I'm also getting a lot of hope from different ways a younger generation of leaders who aren't necessarily caught up in setting up a new NGO or structure are doing the important work that needs to happen. I'm also hopeful about the way we see new philanthropies, new high-net-worth individuals coming to the fore, saying we want to invest, we're going to step up and do something. And it's a moment when some on the African continent are saying, what does it look like to think about our own resourcing? And rather than looking to Europe and the US for funding models, reimagining local philanthropy and seeing how Asia is responding at this moment. 

You mentioned that younger generations, new generations, are thinking differently in ways that give hope. As an organisation that is all about centring young people and giving them platforms, skills, and opportunities, what more can we be doing to change their own ability to affect change in this moment, whether it's in the realm of their own lives and communities or on broader stages?

I love the fact that EMpower focuses on young people because I do think investing in young people is investing in the future and the social change agenda. And I love that we have a focus on mental health because youth are facing challenges that we never thought possible. On the one hand, you have this vibrant online ecosystem, and the online environment has created a space for connecting, for mobilising, for doing social change work. But it's also become a very violent space for young people. 

It’s critical to invest in youth mental health and in leadership. And what does leadership look like in the current context? And what do young people need in terms of skills and capabilities, and how do we foster healthy spaces for young people to connect with each other? We also need to promote intergenerational dialogue and recognise the importance of indigenous knowledge. 

We need to bring that to the fore and sustain investments in young people. Often, we expect youth to change the world, but we don't recognise all the challenges. In addition to mental health, we need to expose youth to how to navigate polarising context. How do we make sure that we can actually reach youth that are feeling disaffected, that are feeling disillusioned and not just look at the superstars? It's reaching the youth that are a bit lost and not sure where they fit in society. Because if we don't target that group of youth, men, boys and girls, they're going to get subsumed into an agenda that's fueled with hate and polarisation.

And when you look at all the data, boys and young men face mental health issues, disaffection, less school attainment. We can't ignore growing evidence that boys and young men are not doing well. 

I wanted to say that as well. I was speaking to someone studying the manosphere from a feminist perspective who said if there is nothing offered to young men and boys, they're going to end up in these spaces and on these podcasts and consuming content because there is no other content. 

We have to start thinking about what investing in young men and boys looks like in terms of the benefit and impact that has on women and girls. Our work with women and girls has to include the work with men and boys. Because if we have a next generation of men and boys who are being trained in misogyny and hate, that's much harder to solve down the line versus addressing it right now in programming with girls and boys.

100%. And it's something that girls ask for. They say please include my brothers, my cousins – they are really important gatekeepers. Nicolette, you have provided us with such rich insight and wisdom, not just for this newsletter, but for us to think about more deeply at EMpower. Thank you for this excellent conversation!