Tackling inequality by building capacity

Image reproduced with permission from Bassajamba CIC.

Federation’s capacity building activities aimed to develop and strengthen the skills, processes or resources that help sustain organisations working towards more responsible and equitable design and use of tech. Nine organisations received capacity building funding through the Federation programme during 2021–2023. Four of these organisations focus on building skills and experience to encourage more diversity in the digital industry. Five provide infrastructure support, for example creating new models, frameworks, tools or opportunities for shared learning in the field. Bassajamba is one such organisation.

Introducing Bassajamba

Bassajamba is a social enterprise that helps organisations to coordinate solutions, innovations, and interventions that address systemic challenges relating to endemic inequalities, exclusion and bias faced by underserved communities. It is working towards a future where science, tech and the wider knowledge sector provide opportunities and progress towards fulfilling communities’ unmet needs.

Why Bassajamba wanted to build capacity

Bassajamba needed to build its technical capacity in terms of the design and development of data models, and financial capacity through funding application development. It also required time to build knowledge on intellectual humility.

To do this, Bassajamba’s Reina Yaidoo undertook research and engaged with various organisations, including the Baobab Foundation. She joined 12 sessions with a Baobab working group around the needs of black and global majority organisations, and completed 3 focus groups around funding and investment, considering the implications for black and global majority groups.

Image: Reina Yaidoo of Bassajamba CIC, photo by Paper Frogs.

Where capacity building led

Hearing directly about the needs of black and global majority organisations helped Bassajamba to grow its capacity for developing and designing new data and digital models for:

• decision making
• value generation
• integrating different forms of knowledge

Together, these provide a structure to combat inequality. Along with other research and engagement activities, this understanding of needs informed development of a case for funding support, with bids being submitted to funders.

Bassajamba felt that its capacity building activity also resulted in an improved leadership capability and built greater resilience and the capacity to face changes. It is updating its mission, vision, and strategy based on the work done and is building new strategic relationships with organisations it worked with during the programme.

Bassajamba’s learning

Bassajmaba identified three key learning points from its capacity building activities:

1. Strategic and empowerment capabilities are required by groups and communities who are currently underserved.
2. There are gaps in data relating to underserved communities; different types of data/information need to be captured.
3. Feedback systems are needed for smarter, more capable economies.

Strategic and empowerment capabilities

It was important to frame the question of data modelling in terms of needs, challenges and opportunities of people facing inequalities and exclusion. Bassajamba did this based on the capabilities required by groups and communities currently underserved. Their investigation identified two capability clusters:

1. Strategic capabilities for cross sector, collective or systemic work.
2. Empowerment capabilities to enable cross-sector, collective or systemic work. This included innovation, investment, and infrastructure capabilities.

Uncaptured data

In relation to design of new data models for decision making and value generation, there remains huge amounts of uncaptured or missing data that could be included in feedback models to reduce exclusion and inequalities in cross-sector, collective or systemic work.

Different types of data/info should be captured. This data should be used not only to measure the separation between different organisations or communities, but as a means to build up capability and different modes of working that are more inclusive and lead to more equitable outcomes. Here are two examples:

1. There are no details being collected around black and global majority organisations around various capabilities i.e. dynamic capabilities, absorption capabilities, innovation capabilities or adaptive capacities. The development of dynamic capabilities relies on three clusters of activities — sensing, seizing, and transforming. Sensing activities involve identifying and assessing emerging opportunities in the external environment. Seizing activities involve mobilising resources to take advantage of these new opportunities. Transforming activities involve renewing organisational processes and maintaining their relevance to consumers.
2. Information about proximity data that may influence improvement in cross sector, collective working is not currently collected, especially in terms of networks. Boschma (2005) proposed a proximity framework referring to types of inter-organisational relationships that are expected to facilitate interactive learning and collaborative innovation. Apart from geographical proximity, Boschma mentioned cognitive, social, institutional and organisational proximity as additional factors that support inter-organisational collaboration.

There are many other types of data that would be helpful. There needs to be a broadening in scope of what data should be included or developed for systems that deal with exclusion and inequality.

Feedback systems for smarter, more capable economies

The question of using data for decision making and value creation around cross-sector, collective or systemic working and initiatives also can be thought of at different scales: community, organisational, but also across different economies. A smarter economy is one where black and global majority groups and organisations are not underserved but have full opportunities. While Bassajamba was able to begin initial investigation into modelling at the economic scale more work needs to be done in this area.

If you would like to discuss any of the themes raised in this post, get in touch with reina[at]bassajamba.co.uk.

This post was collaboratively prepared by Reina Yaidoo from Bassajamba, and Linda Humphries from Paper Frogs, a delivery partner working on the Federation programme.

Co-op Foundation’s Federation Programme, supported by Luminate, is empowering people across Greater Manchester to challenge the ways in which technology and data reinforce inequalities. It’s a collaborative programme that supports social enterprises, activist organisations, charities and communities to grow the impact of their work.