Power Labs
A series of workshops to build in-depth understanding of power for organisational integrity
Power & Integrity is incubated within 
and Power Lab was possible thanks to the support of Oak Foundation.
The rationale
Developing a new holistic approach
As nonprofits become more aware of the potential harm from their work, most struggle to navigate the increasingly complex web of integrity issues and expanding list of requirements. As well as seriously hampering board oversight, the current piecemeal management of integrity practices can lead to harmful gaps and lapses.
With a power-sensitive, whole-system, and synergy-led approach, we believe nonprofits can transform integrity practice across the sector. We are running our Power Labs to start co-creation and learning on how best to apply holistic power analysis in the nonprofit setting.
Holistic integrity areas
These include:
- anti-corruption
- anti-racism
- equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
- gender
- human rights
- leadership
- safeguarding
- sustainability
- blind spots
Power labs overview
Leading the way in addressing organisational power dynamics
Power Labs is a six-month programme, which started in October 2022. Five UK-based nonprofits are participating: UNICEF UK, PoHwer, CBM, The Bridge and NHS Confederation.
Together we are exploring:
- how power dynamics shape organisational and individual behaviours
- how seemingly separate integrity areas are interconnected
- practical steps for nurturing positive transformational power and addressing negative power
- pathways to embody organisational integrity.
We are examining how power analysis is foundational to organisational integrity and how to adapt integrity practices accordingly. Rather than starting from scratch, we’re building on well-evidenced power analysis frameworks used in campaigning and programme work.
The main aim of our Power Labs is to develop practical tools and frameworks and capture learning for sharing more widely across the sector. We will also explore how to create an ongoing community of practice or open space for sharing and connecting.
Photo by Alex Kondratiev on Unsplash
Interested to join a lab?
We have stopped taking applications for our initial Power Labs. But we are planning a series of Mini-Labs in 2023 to further test and refine the learnings.
To register your interest, email Khadija Koroma.
THE PROGRAMME
The Power Lab journey
Participating teams will work together in four lab sessions between October 2022 and March 2023. A few weeks’ break between each session will enable them to reflect, and to refine practices in their working environment. They also have a virtual check-in meeting with their PI partner.
The teams will develop bespoke action plans for their organisation, as well as contributing to the co-creation of PI’s open-source tools.
Programme of events
Pre-lab: Participating organisations had an initial virtual meeting with their PI partner. They also completed a survey and reviewed anonymised results for the whole cohort.
LAB 1: Organisational integrity
What is Organisational Integrity?
- Exercise to build on the Organisational Integrity framework that evolves throughout the lab
- Seeing the fragmentation
- Understanding the common risks and opportunities for increased coherence
Post-session: Applying learning and virtual check-in with PI partner.
LAB 2: Understanding power
Understanding power and its relationship with integrity
- Understanding how power operates in a structural and formal way – exercise to introduce power frameworks
- How power works in organisations – exercises to demonstrate shared root causes for seemingly separate aspects of integrity
- A coherent way forward – exploring and evolving a practical framework for moving forward.
Post-session: Applying learning and virtual check-in with PI partner.
LAB 3: Leading towards integrity
How power sensitive leadership can enable positive transformation
- Exploring transformational power frameworks using experiential exercises and practical examples.
- What is power sensitive leadership – exercises to explore and identify key principles
- What is the role of leadership and governance to enable organisations to embody integrity?
Post-session: Applying learning and virtual check-in with PI partner.
LAB 4: Towards organisational integrity
Moving forward
- How we can work in a more holistic way within our organsations?
- What is needed to support organisations and the sector to take this forward?
- Critical reflection and lessons learned from workshop.
Post-lab: PI will share lessons learned with the Power Lab cohort and offer virtual monthly check-ins for up to 8 months after the workshops. We will also share anonymised learnings more widely in the spirit of open-source working, to support wider sector work addressing power.
Where and when?
Power Lab workshops are on the following dates in 2022-2023:
SESSION 1: October 24th
SESSION 2: November 28th
SESSION 3: February 6th
SESSION 4: March 6th
Funding
Our ability to run these Power Labs is possible thanks to the support of Oak Foundation.
Find out more about the PI initiative
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As well as matters relating to misconduct, integrity aspects can include a wide range of other concerns about culture, leadership, standards in supply chains or partnerships, investments in markets that undermine the mission, etc.
A member of our team will be yosur dedicated partner for the Power Lab journey. This includes meeting before to the lab sessions, and regular virtual check-ins between sessions and monthly for up to 8 months afterwards.
For example, power analysis is a key area of research at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. ‘Power, Empowerment and Social Change’, published in 2019, provides an overview of well-established frameworks in chapter 3.
Power-sensitive
Adapting well-established work by nonprofits on power and inequality, we are exploring how societal power structures underpin negative organisational culture and behaviours such as saviourism, sexism, racism, bullying, and corruption.
Power analysis identifies the for multiple aspects of integrity, essentially providing the lens for the whole-system approach to organisational integrity.
A power-sensitive approach also provides valuable insights into how best to address negative power manifestations and – importantly – how to nurture positive power.
Whole-system
We are exploring how organisations can embody integrity. We mean this in both senses of the word: honest, responsible, accountable, and principled; and whole and unbroken.
Organisational integrity requires a holistic and strategic mindset, combined with integrity practice at individual, organisational and sector levels.
Using a whole-system approach, we will support organisations to integrate integrity practice that strengthens oversight, strategy, risk management and operations. This will help them be more proactive, more efficient, and much less likely to cause harm.
Synergy-led
Integrating power-sensitive integrity practice requires continuous learning and diverse perspectives to shape a shared understanding. So we will help build an enabling environment with the nonprofit sector to work collectively on power and integrity.
We will also work to increase coherence between donor requirements around integrity and contribute to wider sector-level work on legitimacy, decolonisation and power.
By learning collectively and reducing duplication, the sector can establish a strong foundation from which organisations can strengthen their integrity practice and, ultimately, their impact.