Leading with Empathy!
The voluntary and community sectors are essential in addressing social needs often unmet by government and private enterprises. It serves as a crucial support system, especially for marginalized groups, by offering tailored solutions and cultivating a sense of belonging. As societal challenges become more complex, the sector progresses beyond traditional charity work, adopting innovative methods to create lasting change. New approaches to community engagement, inclusive dialogue, and emotional resilience have gained prominence, offering a fresh perspective on how voluntary efforts can address modern social issues.
Lea Misan, as the Executive Director of Act for Change, demonstrates this evolution in her leadership. Her approach is rooted in empathy, inclusion, and collaboration, focusing on empowering communities to take the lead in resolving their challenges. She is determined to balance strategic vision with grassroots involvement, guiding her team through a more facilitative leadership style. Under her direction, the organization has successfully developed innovative methodologies that support young people in crisis and inspire personal growth and resilience in the communities they serve.
Act for Change, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to creating sustainable cultural shifts that prioritize empathy and inclusion. The organization has significantly impacted youth and communities by addressing the root causes of social exclusion and violence and offering tools that foster emotional well-being. Their methodology, particularly the EF36 approach, has gained recognition for its effectiveness in empowering individuals and communities. Through comprehensive training programs and partnerships, Act for Change continues to expand its influence, ensuring that its mission to create a more inclusive and empathetic society is widely embraced.
Let’s explore Lea’s innovative approaches to community engagement for lasting change:
Commitment to Empathy and Inclusion
Lea’s journey to becoming the Executive Director of Act for Change was unexpected, diverging from her early career in the City of London. It began when she was invited to help organize a Holocaust Memorial Day event in 2001.
This experience raised questions that led her to the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Education Fellowship, where she encountered historian David Bankier. His insight, “leaders can only lead where people will follow,” inspired her to establish Act for Change, aiming to strengthen empathy among people.
The Holocaust Education model also raised a crucial question for her: “Could we transcend the Perpetrator-Victim polarity by exploring the Bystander-Rescuer dynamic?” This inquiry led her to delve into process work, which ultimately shaped Act for Change’s DATIS EF36 methodology. The approach focuses on creating positive societal change by addressing complex human behavior dynamics in challenging situations.
This journey has been about seizing opportunities, following her heart, and pursuing questions that have shaped Act for Change’s mission and approach. It has been a path rooted in a commitment to empathy and inclusion.
Inspiring Positive Change and Resilience
She finds the most fulfilling aspect of leading Act for Change is the opportunity to empower transformation. Supporting young people in overcoming trauma and turning crises into opportunities for growth is incredibly rewarding.
Lea derives great satisfaction from the impactful interventions, which address unmet needs and help prevent youth violence. The innovative approaches, based on the methodology developed in-house, offer creative and integrative counseling techniques that enable clients to express and process their feelings effectively, making a real difference in their lives.
Community engagement is another aspect she deeply cherishes. Creating cultural change and resilience through extended programs ensures that all voices are heard, contributing to a more inclusive society.
She takes great pride in advocating for change, modeling desired behaviors and engaging with stakeholders to build coalitions. This role allows her to drive the mission forward and create a lasting impact. Overall, the ability to inspire positive change and witness the growth and resilience of individuals and communities is what makes her role at Act for Change so fulfilling.
Prioritizing Diverse Perspectives and Voices
Lea’s leadership style continually evolves to better address the challenges of empathy, belonging, and preventing exclusion among children. This ongoing process demands consistent effort and self-reflection on her own biases and emotional responses.
For the most part, she has transitioned from a top-down, directive approach to a more facilitative style, empowering others and cultivating a culture of belonging. By embracing a bottom-up, collaborative decision-making process, Act for Change ensures buy-in and leverages diverse perspectives within schools, communities, and the team.
Act for Change provides opportunities for others to lead empathy-focused initiatives, allowing good ideas to emerge from across the entire system. This distributed leadership is part of the systemic approach to nurturing a compassionate organizational culture. Key to its success is acknowledging and developing interconnectedness with families, community organizations, and schools.
This connectivity helps transform existing behavioral patterns and relationships where needed while reinforcing positive ones. Act for Change prioritizes hearing all voices, recognizing that every perspective matters, especially those from marginalized groups. This inclusive approach shapes strategies and initiatives, ensuring the needs of all children and communities it serves are addressed.
Tracking Impact for Motivation
She believes that taking time away from Act for Change is as important as getting involved in the work. For the ‘workaholic’ in her, she has to be intentional and committed to both time in and time out of Act for Change to remain motivated and balanced in creating inclusive environments.
Tracking the charity’s impact helps remind her of positive changes, which she might otherwise take for granted. This reinforces the importance of the work and fuels her motivation to continue pushing for inclusive environments.
Most of all, Lea remains motivated by the young people they work with. Each time a young person is able to turn the almost intractable situations they are in and thrive, she gains energy and knows that this is what they are meant to be doing.
Building a Culture of Empathy and Inclusion
In her journey with Act for Change, Lea has identified several key elements in building a culture of empathy and inclusion in schools and communities. Leading by example is paramount; as Executive Director, she endeavors to model empathetic and inclusive behaviors in all interactions.
Education and awareness are crucial, so Act for Change has developed comprehensive training programs for teachers, staff, and students. Creating safe spaces for open dialogue is essential, allowing everyone to share experiences without judgment.
The organization also focuses on incorporating diverse perspectives into curricula, thereby ensuring representation and empathy and cultivating community engagement. Lastly, it emphasizes ongoing feedback and adaptation, recognizing that building inclusive cultures is a continuous process.
Through these elements, Act for Change has witnessed remarkable transformations in both school and community environments, with increased student engagement, reduced bullying, and improved academic outcomes. It has been incredibly rewarding to see the positive impact of their work on individual lives and entire communities, reinforcing their commitment to empathy and inclusion.
Building a Strong, Diverse Team for Effective Leadership
In her work addressing social exclusion and violence prevention, Lea has learned several key leadership lessons. Firstly, she has realized that the more she does, the more support she needs. As the initiatives expand, building a strong, diverse team and creating partnerships becomes crucial.
She has also learned that effective leadership is not about choosing between directive and participative styles but having the agility to adapt between them as situations demand. Sometimes, clear direction is necessary; other times, collaborative decision-making yields the best results.
A key insight has been understanding that enabling and distributing leadership is about more than delegation. It is about creating a container where people feel empowered to lead in service of a clear vision, mission, and values. This involves giving explicit permission and cultivating an environment where individuals feel confident giving themselves permission to take the initiative.
She has found that articulating a compelling vision and aligning it with organizational values is essential. This provides a framework for distributed leadership, ensuring that individual efforts contribute to collective goals. Lastly, she has learned the importance of continuous learning and adaptation. The nature of social issues is ever-changing, requiring leaders to stay flexible, open-minded, and committed to ongoing growth and improvement.
Developing Forward-Thinking Strategies
She prioritizes continuous learning and engagement to stay ahead. Reading reports about the state of the mental health sector, the latest research, and best practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion keeps her informed and inspired. Meeting with other professionals in the field provides valuable insights and fosters collaboration.
Crucially, Act for Change employs Deep Democracy Forums to hear directly from people within communities. Having their ears at the coal face,’ as it were, ensures that their strategies are grounded in real-world needs and experiences.
Lea also believes in the power of cross-sector partnerships. By collaborating with diverse organizations, Act for Change can utilize collective expertise and resources to drive innovation. Additionally, they regularly evaluate and adapt their programs based on feedback and outcomes. Staying connected with grassroots movements and emerging social trends helps them anticipate future challenges and opportunities.
This proactive stance enables Act for Change to develop forward-thinking strategies that address both current and emerging social issues. Ultimately, their commitment to ongoing learning, community engagement, and adaptability ensures that their work remains cutting-edge and impactful in this challenging and sensitive field.
Aligning Activities with Mission
As a leader with a mission to create a more inclusive world, Lea sometimes finds that measuring SMART goals can be a harsh way of looking at what is achieved. Particularly during times when the world seems to be regressing, and more swathes of society seem to be marginalized, it is important to look differently at how success is measured.
She tends to look at how aligned the organizational activities are with the mission of creating a more inclusive world. When it comes to impact and outcomes, assessing the tangible impact of programs and initiatives, such as reduced trauma or increased inclusion, requires mindfulness of the economic and social context of the moment.
She believes, “Sometimes, we might be fighting for inclusion when all other factors are pushing towards increased marginalization. In such moments, just maintaining the same level of inclusion is already an achievement.”
In terms of her personal effectiveness as a leader, she needs to reflect on her ability to motivate and inspire her team and on how she can continue to strengthen a positive organizational culture and grow partnerships and opportunities.
Balancing Inclusion Efforts and Challenges
She is inspired by young people looking to make a meaningful impact in the world. She often tells them that meaningful impact comes in all shapes and sizes and that nonprofit work or social advocacy are only two of the avenues.
Lea believes that an important starting point is to be clear on the specific impact one wants to contribute to. The clarity of a guiding vision and goals orients efforts and helps maintain focus.
She highlights that meaningful impact is achieved not just in reaching the goal but also in the journey towards it. She likens it to a relay race—one might not go all the way, but the distance traveled before passing the baton is significant. Every step forward matters, helping to stay energized and avoid burnout.
Lea advises recognizing that one is part of a larger tribe working towards similar goals. She encourages connecting with this tribe—networking, collaborating, and learning from others in the field. She advocates being fluid in following feedback and sensing the landscape but rigid in adhering to one’s values.
Expanding Impact with EF36 Tools
Looking ahead, Lea envisions several exciting initiatives for Act for Change to expand its impact on children and communities. A key focus will be implementing the EF36 tools more widely, empowering individuals and communities to increase their emotional fluidity.
These tools are designed to alleviate the need for constant professional support by giving people practical skills to make a difference in their own lives, families, schools, and workplaces.
Act for Change plans to develop comprehensive training programs for parents, caregivers, and educators, equipping them with EF36 techniques to support young people’s emotional well-being. Additionally, to make the learning process engaging and accessible for all ages, the organization aims to create innovative workshops that blend art, technology, and training in emotional fluidity.
To ensure a wider reach, Act for Change looks to establish partnerships with schools and community centers. This will help integrate its programs into their curricula. The organization is also exploring the development of a digital platform to provide on-demand access to its resources, fostering a culture of emotional resilience and creativity and allowing for greater scalability and impact.
