Power Sharing at People United

People United’s ‘challenge programme’ is period of reflection and learning to challenge us on our power sharing practice both internally and externally.

We have long prided ourselves on methodologies which share power by foregrounding co-design and co-creation methodologies when working with communities, however our governance model is predictably traditional with all the inherent problems that charitable governance structures bring.

Unpicking this conundrum has become an urgent piece of work as we know the limitations and ramifications of hierarchy and lack of diversity. So how to solve the problem? Attendance at many meetings, webinars and conferences resulted in a lot of well intentioned words, but moving to action feels more difficult.

Understanding what our organisation needs is the first step – who is missing from the conversation? What lived experience would strengthen our organisation? How can we make board membership accessible to those who are not already round the table? All of these questions and resulting actions is helping us create a more diverse board, but it goes much deeper than board membership.

We’re an associate member of citizens in power – a deep dive into power sharing to revolutionise decision making in the cultural sector. We’re learning how citizens voices impact positively in an equitable space where they are valued and informed to lead decision making and shape the future. Now we’re examining who makes our decisions, what this might look like in the future and we’re very excited to see where this will take us.