Communique from Peer Workshop #1 September 25th-27th, 2018

Gender Action Learning (GAL) process in Oxfam America

October 5, 2018

Oxfam America defined as one of its organizational priorities for FY19 to “become
a gender just organization”. This means integrating gender justice in an organic way to our
identity and ways of working – internally and externally. To achieve this, we have decided
to embark on a suite of actions (included at end of message), including the
implementation of a Gender Action Learning (GAL) process. (“What is GAL?”
refresher below)

On the last week of September, 35 GAL participants gathered in Boston for the first
peer-learning workshop of the GAL process. The participants met in their designated
change teams for the first time. The objectives of the workshop were:

● Understanding the principles and practices of peer learning for organizational

change;

● Understanding and applying a conceptual framework on organizational

transformation for gender equality, justice and inclusive norms;

● Establishing defining moment from the past and present around

intersectional hierarchies of power and privilege in the five priority areas of
concern for OUS;

● Identifying initial change goals in each of the priority areas of concern;

● Designing change projects (including defining concrete change goals and change
tracking mechanism);

● Setting up ground rules and timelines for next steps in the process.

For this process, participants were assigned to work on five change teams, each of
them focusing on one of five high priority questions identified by the SLT:

1. Brand and identity: What would it take for Oxfam to show up as a gender just actor
for social change in the US?

2. Organizational culture: How should our culture, including governance, leadership,

HR processes evolve to support Oxfam being a gender just organization?

3. Partnership and alliances: How should our relationships and practices with partners
and allies evolve to support Oxfam being a gender just organization?

4. Learning, knowledge management and systems: How should our learning and
knowledge management processes evolve to support us being a gender just organization?

5. Global Programs and Campaigns: What changes do we need to our global programs
and campaigns to make them more gender just?
These questions were designed by the SLT and provided a starting point for the development of
change projects. During the workshop, change teams explored these questions,
developing hypothesis and testing ideas around them. Currently, each change teams is
working on refining their learning question and limiting the scope of their work ahead.
Although each of the five teams has a specific area of work and change project, their work is not
in isolation. This was made evident as teams engaged constantly in inquiring each other about
assumptions, scope of work, and sharing information from Oxfam. The work of each team
needs help and engagement of people outside the process as they move forward.
Oxfam’s staff who are not participating directly in the process play an important
role in contributing to move the work forward and providing inputs to enhance the
quality of the work. Though each workshop represent an opportunity for peer learning, the
change team projects take place in our daily work internally and externally.

By working on each of these priorities, the change teams will contribute to shaping what being a
gender just organization means and looks like in practice for Oxfam America and advance our
work towards that goal.

GAL participants in action

GAL as a peer-learning, emerging process

This first workshop aimed to set the foundation for the process and the work of the
change teams. Becoming a gender just organization requires a process that allows participants
to actively experiment and explore. As Oxfam America, we are building together the
meaning of being gender just. The answer is not found in a single source. The
intentional flexibility used by the GAL methodology allows participants to engage
in formulating jointly difficult questions about what it takes to become gender just
and challenge each other. In that iterative process, emerging practices of power become
visible, especially around dissent and enabling safe spaces for constructive discussions.
Thanks to this, participants learn from each other, advance in their own journey as individuals,
and forge a communal path. In some instances, this means creating practices that foster genuine
spaces for ideas and action as well as recognizing when to stop and take a step back when this
does not happen. As an emerging process, participants spent time articulating the
principles and practices of peer & action learning for organizational change as well
as getting to know each other.

Using peer learning as a tool to foster change at OUS

During the workshop, participants explored gender and power using the Gender Justice theory
of change and power analysis tools. In this way, participants explored in a practical way
how they understand change happens within the organization and how power
dynamics contribute to generate or hinder such change:

Theory of change for organizational change

The uniqueness of the GAL process is reflected in its scope and approach. For many
colleagues, this process is one of the few opportunities they have to work with
different people across geographies, hierarchical levels, and locations. In its
approach, this process relies heavily on feminist principles and practices. This was
clearly expressed in activities to connect body, mind and heart as well as breathing
exercises. By addressing and recognizing holistically each individual, barriers are removed,
limitations and biases recognized, and a conducive environment for change is enabled.
Participants experienced first-handed the power of connecting thoughts and feelings as a way to
create conditions for meaningful change to take place. Also, as a way to recognize the discomfort
of change.

During the workshop, in solidarity with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, participants
took time to watch the Senate Committee session held to hear her testimony.
Followed by this, each participant spent 10 minutes doing personal reflection in writing. It is
important to acknowledge that out GAL process does not take place in isolation and the
relevance of gender justice issues in our work and in our lives.

Participants spent time reflecting and discussing in groups and plenary about our
Gender Justice journey and immersing in the dynamics of peer learning. As ideas,
questions and comments were made, opportunities for critical reflection emerged.

GAL change team #4: Learning and knowledge management systems

In this process, patters of formal and informal power dynamics emerged. These situations
brought front and center the difficulties Oxfam America faces in creating and holding safe
spaces for individuals to bring their ideas and dissent in constructive ways. An important
portion of these three days were devoted to create trust that allow the emergence
of conducive spaces for difficult conversations to happen. Building trust and
constructive dissent are fundamental components for having a process that intentionally
transform how we work and walk the talk on defying gender and power imbalances.

It was also identified the need for participants to have tools to create and maintain truly open
spaces for conversation. There were clear requests for offering such tools to Oxfam
staff as a way to address the limitations identified in communication skills and
methods to enable people to bring themselves fully and present their ideas. The
ability to increase the quality of the process by which we engage with each other requires
additional support moving forward.

Next steps

GAL participants will gather again during the last week of March, 2019 for their
second peer learning workshop. In the meantime, they continue developing their change
projects. Below are some of the next steps in their work:

 Each change teams will meet virtually at least once per month to check-in on their work.
Some teams are meeting as early as the week of October 17th;
 Each change team will hold a monthly 1:1 call with Gender at Work facilitators for
mentoring;
 Each team will have a 2-hour session with Gender at Work and the Gender
Justice team on December 11th-12th. The facilitators will be physically in
Washington DC.

GAL participants will be sharing their experiences and work in different spaces, such as team
and all staff meetings. Also, it is expected for participants to update on the process in the spaces
where they participate such as SLT meetings, Executive Group meetings and division meetings.
Virtual spaces such as workplace, Compass, and Padare will be used to maintain the
organization up to date on this process.
ANNEX:
What is GAL?

Gender Action Learning (GAL) is an 18 month process where individuals participate in an

emerging, peer-learning process to contribute to transforming gender and power dynamics
within the organization. Participants work together on change teams where they design,
develop, and implement together a change project in a key priority area for Oxfam, defined by
the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The process is facilitated by Gender at Work, a long-time
Oxfam America’s partner implementing GAL processes in our programming around the world.
Facilitators are: Ray Gordezky and Kalyani Menon-Sen

Oxfam America has chosen the GAL process to help us increase our ability to deliver our mission
to create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice. This is a major investment
and undertake for Oxfam America in becoming the gender just organization that we want to be.

Process

Second
Inception Hearing Selection of First Peer Peer Third Peer
Meeting Our Stories Participants Workshop Workshop Workshop
and MSC
(April 2018) (May 2018) (April-July) (Sept 2018) (March (Sept 2019)
2019)

 Inception Meeting: The GAL process started back in April 2018 with a series of
inception meetings between Gender at Work, the Gender Justice Team and the Senior
Leadership Team (SLT). These meetings were crucial to analyze and understand the GAL
methodology and its pertinence for Oxfam America’s journey. Buy-in and leadership
 support are key preconditions for assuring the GAL process is set up to serve as a
catalyzer for change.

 Hearing Our Stories: On May 2018, Gender at Work held five half-day sessions open
to all OUS staff to reflect on their own experiences of gendered realities in the
organization and our organizational history. These sessions were held in Boston and DC
offices with a participation of 110 OUS staff. 63% of the selected GAL participants, joined
one of this sessions. The final report from Hearing Our Stories available here.

 Selection of participants: People are the cornerstone of the process. To assure a

proper selection, a Steering Committee for GAL was created, composed by 10 individuals
from the Gender Resource Group and Gender Focal Points. This group made a proposal
to the SLT on criteria selection and a list of 55 potential participants.

 Final 35 GAL participants: The Executive Office and the Senior Leadership Team
made a final selection of 35 individuals from teams across the organization
aiming to create a group with diversity of backgrounds and experiences:

o Location: 57% are located in Boston, 29% in DC and 14% remotely;

o Position: 51% are individual contributors, 26% directors, 11%
managers/associate directors, 11% SLT members;
o Division: 34% from Programs, 31% from Policy and Advocacy; 11% from Public
Engagement; 11% from Resource Development; 9% from Operations, and 3%
from the Executive office;
o Sex: 69% female, 31% male

All the documents that detail these processes are available to Oxfam America staff in the
Gender Action Learning (GAL) in OUS Hub on Padare.
FY19 Objectives
1. Power and money: Ensuring accountable and transparent financial flows;
2. Food Systems: Transforming food systems to be inclusive and sustainable;
3. Humanitarian work: Saving lives and building resilience through local leadership;
4. Gender Justice: Becoming a gender just organization.