One of the most important lessons I learned in my early career working alongside young people, volunteers and community members at a city farm was this: the best outcomes happen with people, not to them.
Back then, we weren’t talking in buzzwords about co-production or participatory leadership. We were just doing the work shoulder to shoulder. Fixing fences. Feeding animals. Holding space for people to step into new roles, find confidence, and take ownership. It was messy and real, and it shaped how I’ve worked ever since.
Today, decades later, I’m heartened to see ‘doing with, not to’ becoming more widely recognised particularly in conversations led by funders on platforms like LinkedIn. It’s encouraging to see those with power and resource rethinking how they work with communities and organisations, not just for them.
From Service to Stewardship
Throughout my career supporting leaders through transitions, or creating space for reflection, I’ve seen time and again that people flourish when they feel ownership. Not just of the outcomes, but of the journey.
‘Doing with’ means trusting people to know what they need. It means creating space to listen before acting. And it means showing up with humility, not heroics.
When leaders are given space to think and be listened to, their clarity deepens. When communities shape the interventions they’re part of, trust grows. When funders design with rather than prescribe to, impact becomes more sustainable and often more surprising.
Doing With in Practice
This isn’t a soft or vague ideal. It’s practical. It looks like:
- Designing funding programmes alongside those who’ll apply for them
- Holding Thinking Space sessions where leaders can pause, reflect, and recalibrate
- Working in partnership rather than extracting input under the guise of ‘consultation’
- Acknowledging lived experience as essential expertise
- Sharing power, even when it feels uncomfortable
It’s slower, sometimes. It demands more listening and less ego. But the results are more real, more rooted and more likely to last.
A Welcome Shift
There’s something deeply hopeful about the way this conversation is evolving, especially among funders. Shifting from transactional grant-giving to relational, trust-based approaches is not only welcome, it’s necessary. I’m delighted to see it being talked about more openly, and I hope we continue to move beyond language into practice.
Because ultimately, ‘doing with’ is not a tactic, it’s a way of being. And it’s one I remain committed to in all my work: with leaders, charities, funders, and changemakers.
Curious to explore this approach in your work?
I support social leaders and organisations to build reflective, collaborative practice into how they lead and fund change.
