Sessions and Workshops
Our workshop will address real-life dilemmas we face when working with children, including the ethics of institutionalizing children in orphanages, using images of children in communications, and navigating value conflicts with parents. You will also have the opportunity to reflect on your own work with children through an ethical lens.
Whether your programs focus on climate or not, climate change will inevitably affect your organization's work and the lives of the communities with which you work. Learn how to assess long-term needs and build the resilience of individuals and communities: to adapt behaviors, practices, lifestyles, and livelihood strategies in response to climate impact - so that no one is caught off guard when a disaster strikes.
Your organization’s website is the portal to who you are and what you stand for. Does it unwittingly perpetuate harmful narratives or promote saviorism? Do people featured in photos know their images are online? Can people with disabilities read and understand all its content? As we reflect on how we can do better in the new Jewish year, join this workshop aimed at taking steps toward looking inward, at your own organization's website. Whether this is your first time considering these issues or you’ve been through the process before, you’ll gain new insight into potential areas for improvement, and learn how to ensure your messages are accurate, inclusive, nuanced, and accessible.
Reducing our carbon footprint is one way in which international development and humanitarian aid organizations, and our local partners, can help mitigate the climate crisis. Discover strategies to minimize your organization's greenhouse gas emissions, whether you work in a building HQ or remotely. And learn how to use the Humanitarian Carbon Calculator to calculate and reduce emissions linked to your work in low-income countries.
Is your project evaluation limited to collecting data about local partners or asking for feedback only at the end of your project? Then you may not be achieving genuine impact! Join us to learn why it's important to incorporate a "feedback loop" that will make your interventions more adaptive and effective. Learn practical tools to involve local partners throughout the entire project; have deliberate, compassionate, and safe conversations with partners; learn how to act on feedback and report it back to relevant stakeholders; and use that feedback in ways that do not harm those who offer their perspectives.
When designing an international development program, we often identify the needs of our community partners and then work to address or fix them. The results of this approach, however, may not leave a sustainable impact. Learn about the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach that mobilizes community members to build upon assets that already exist in their community, and how this approach can fit into your own community engagement work.
Using language and terminology that is current, relevant, and aligned with international standards can help promote dignity, and can avoid perpetuating outdated and harmful narratives or power dynamics. Join a discussion on which words are in, which are out, and why.
Global service programs involve financial transactions between the organization and host communities or partner organizations. How do you establish expectations, act with transparency, and ensure equal decision-making power and compensation so that everyone benefits?
What steps can you take to ensure that your organization's M&E in inclusive, diverse, and takes into account the community members with whom you are working?
From writing a policy, to creating forms, to asking community members, to portraying them in a dignified and ethical way in your communications materials - everything you need to know about getting truly informed consent from people and communities.
With climate change disproportionately affecting developing countries, what is our role in minimizing damage on host communities when sending staff, volunteers, or students abroad? Learn and discuss practical ways to include ethical environmental impact in your programming, and ways for staff/ volunteers/ students to contribute positively to sustainability efforts.
Workshop on writing an organizational Ethical Code of Conduct. Learn what to include and how to utilize it, and see practical examples.
How do prejudices play into representation of the Congo in Western media? Do filmmakers unwittingly contribute to the 'white savior complex?' Join us for a screening of this important film and a conversation with the director. (In partnership with Glocal International Development Studies)