A pinch of Creativity and Self Advocacy and just a sprinkle of me contributes to a Digital Transformation
What can a brand-new enthusiastic designer have to say after only a few weeks of experience at Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)? Quite a lot, actually.
On 3 December it was the International Day of People with Disability. This date was really important to me as during this period I used to be in Brussels attending meetings and conferences about the topic. This year I spent the day having my induction as a new employee at JRF and I considered myself very lucky.
I was able to experience how JRF is challenging stereotypes through meaningful workshops and briefing sessions that I attended, which are supporting my learning and development. JRF held many events over the course of Disability Month in December, including a focus on the history of the Disability Rights Movement.
Nothing About Us Without Us, a flavour of Self Advocacy
My journey to a diagnosis for my condition began in a routine day when, for the first time, I heard about the condition that currently describes me. I would never have imagined that what I was going to watch on television that evening would radically change my life forever.
I could also never have imagined I would be living in a different country today, and I would have started a creative designer role within JRF, trying to Solve UK Poverty.
Since that moment I set out to get answers; after a long journey of professional visits and wrong diagnoses, I finally received the correct one. I did not dismay, rather I heaved a sigh of relief, as I was diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Asperger’s Syndrome).
A study conducted by JRF in 2015 highlighted that less than half of the working-age disabled population are in employment, though many more want to work. It did not surprise me, deepening my research, to find that the people with disability were struggling to reach higher levels of qualification and even if they succeeded, they would be offered a worse job and salary than someone who was not a disabled person. It did not take long before I understood that disability was just one of the factors that restrained people in the grip of poverty.
My research led me to change the way I thought about my disability and this allowed me to transform what is commonly considered a limitation into a resource. I established the first example of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder Self Advocacy organisation in Italy. I then started to campaign for Disability Rights, travelling along Europe and finding my new home in UK. It was this attitude, and the shared values of compassion and justice, that led me to JRF when that opportunity finally arrived.
Raise inclusivity putting the people at the core of what we do
JRF pleasantly surprised me with the way their application form approached the most vulnerable categories of applicants, and in the way the organisation has shown me it cares; as I am one of the people in those categories, I think my point of view is unique and important.
The experience I’ve personally had with the organisation, in my brief time with it so far, has been one of working together to find solutions that work for me, and enable me. Seeing this approach happening internally gives me confidence that this organisation can apply the same values externally, working with people with lived experience of poverty, to benefit the wider community.
Co-Design solutions that actually work
JRF is working to make a difference by making the participation of people with lived experience of poverty a core part of their work. The fact that someone like me can be part of the organisation and contribute my direct experience is a great example of how JRF is working to improve diversity within the organisation, and this can only help in achieving its overall mission.
It’s brilliant to tangibly feel the direction JRF is taking to co-design with people who have lived experience of poverty. It’s an approach that ambitiously aims to give them a platform to tell their own stories in a way that can bring about real social change.
Design, Re-Branding and Framing
I’ve arrived at JRF in a transitional time, with a digital transformation coming through which I’m a part of. My creative team and our wider department will play a central role in achieving this.
I’m also lucky to begin my career at JRF at this time as I will able to use Framing, which will be essential in my work. It means being aware of the impact certain values and metaphors have on people when you’re communicating about poverty. It’s based on research JRF has done with the Frameworks Institute, so we know that referencing particular values and using specific metaphors has a powerful and positive effect on the way readers take in our messages. This is a new way of talking about poverty, and hopefully I’ll be able to help other professionals like me to communicate about poverty more effectively.
