Participation is Protection

Today’s reflection comes from Antoinette, Abianda’s Head of Partnerships & Development, sharing a perspective from being new into the organisation — exploring how participation, trust and care are practised, and how that quietly reshapes leadership, voice and belonging.

Since joining Abianda, I’ve been struck by how trust is practised here, not just talked about.

Trust in time. Trust in people. Trust that you don’t have to over perform competence or resilience to belong. Weekly check-ins and supervision centre wellbeing and growth, helping you find your own solutions without judgement. That kind of trust quietly changes how you show up, and how you see yourself.

What’s powerful is that this isn’t reserved for leadership. Participation runs through the infrastructure of the organisation. Abianda’s Young Women’s Advisory Group are active team members. They and our Intern co-design our work. Decisions are discussed openly. Our EDI policy aka Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion (DEBI) shapes how we meet, think and work. Hierarchy softens. Voice matters.

In a world shaped by violence, coercion and corrupt power, this way of working can feel almost hidden, because it refuses dominance and spectacle.

But it isn’t silent.

This International Women’s Day, I’m reminded that participation, trust and care are not soft values. They are how women lead, survive and change systems, every day.

Antoinette, Head of Partnerships and Development