CAST: Meet the team!
In the first of a series introducing each of the members of the CAST team, we chat to Programme Lead Rajwinder K. Cheema. Raj leads our work with the Disrupt Foundation, working to create a digital product for migrant advice organisations, enabling better signposting and referral routes so that migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum have access to the services they need as quickly, safely and effectively as possible. The product is currently in a ‘soft launch’ phase with a cohort of local organisations.
Look out for more Q&A pieces with the CAST team over the coming months — and of course, if you have any questions you’d like to put to us, we’d love to hear from you; please get in touch via hello@wearecast.org.uk.
Hi Raj! Please can you tell us a bit about your background and how you ended up working at CAST?
Raj: I’ve largely worked in the innovation sector with public services and social impact organisations. My work has ranged from delivering events, doing ethnographic research, facilitating action learning sets and leading participatory efforts. About three years ago, I realised my experience mostly focussed on service and system innovation. And there was a missing piece to the puzzle — digital innovation. I was curious to understand how digital solutions were delivered and what the role of people and communities was in this process. When I saw the opportunity to lead on the delivery of a product process at CAST, I jumped at the opportunity! I’m very grateful to the team for taking the chance on me.
What sectors have you worked in?
Mostly health and social care, a little in education and criminal justice. I’ve learned from the perspectives of public services and social impact organisations. The underpinning threads of my work have been innovation, change, co-production and communities.
What is the most valuable course or professional qualification you have completed?
Honestly, I would say my experience of observing others, learning from my mistakes and using that learning to experiment furthermore has been the most valuable. Most of the courses I’ve done have been tick-box exercises to get me through the initial recruitment doors. They’ve been helpful to learn new skills in terms of providing frameworks, tools and templates that can be adapted for different contexts. But they have not contributed to enhancing my critical and creative thinking, imagination and broader approach to change. Technical skills have their value but only to a certain extent especially when you’re working against a backdrop of evolving social issues when it comes to growing scale and severity.
I have a legal academic education. I did not plan to be working in innovation — it happened quite serendipitously. It’s been interesting reflecting on how I’ve used this academic discipline in my professional work over the years. Recently I find myself appreciating the capabilities of critical thought, sharing dissenting opinions, structuring thought processes, and scrutinising mainstream discourses when necessary. I have my legal education to thank for these foundational capabilities.
Are there any courses you would particularly recommend?
There are no courses I would recommend at this moment in time. Instead, I would recommend developing and strengthening one’s critical thinking abilities, not being afraid to ask challenging questions and constantly building one’s self awareness in order to navigate intellectual spaces with care and attention.
What is the most successful or enjoyable project you’ve worked on?
It’s hard to say because they’ve all given me unique learning in their own ways. I am enjoying my current project because it’s a tangible product, which will shortly be used in real world settings. Understanding the impact of this product makes the intervention feel more real compared with some of the work I’ve done in the past. I’m enjoying this feeling.
What skills/knowledge have you picked up over the years which supports your role at CAST?
The first would be delivery skills. Delivering in diverse contexts means I am constantly learning how to navigate projects using the appropriate tools. At CAST, this has been helpful in ensuring the product process runs as smoothly as possible when working with multiple stakeholders.
The second would be engagement skills. The art of engaging busy frontline practitioners and experts by experience, respectfully, to shape the actual work — still feels like an undervalued skill broadly speaking. But I’ve been putting these skills to good use in my work at CAST by supporting the team to engage frontline practitioners and experts by experience throughout the process.
The third would be my learning about local systems. Delivering 100 Day Challenges for Nesta’s People Powered Results team gave me a fantastic insight into how partners across local health and care systems work together. I’ve been able to bring these insights and the learning to my current work.
What would you say is your ‘superpower’? What’s the thing you particularly excel at?
Asking incisive questions. I am still learning how to use this superpower in safe and helpful ways.
Do you have a particular area or sector you’re most interested in?
I’m interested in learning more about the intersection of digital technology and co-production. How do we make digital products that matter to the people who will use them? How do we deliver product processes centred around people’s voices? There are lots of questions playing on my mind when it comes to digital justice too.
I also want to do more community based facilitation work — that’s where honesty lies. There’s no getting away from it.
What’s been your proudest professional achievement?
I led a cross-functional team on the participation work stream of the anti-discrimination programme at Kooth plc. The work stream focussed on gathering insights to understand the relationship minority ethnic men (25–45 years old) had with mental health and wellbeing. This effort included working with a lived experience representative and working in partnership with BlackOut UK and Cultures CIC. The work stream culminated in a set of co-produced strategic objectives for the organisation to adopt and take forward.
It was a real privilege to lead on this work and be given the opportunity to do what I love doing most — listening to people and translating their insights into action.
The effort was shortlisted for the Collective Power Award 2022 by the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance. You can:
1) read the blog outlining my thoughts about the key lessons here: https://ideas-alliance.org.uk/hub/2022/12/01/black-men-and-digital-mental-health-support-collective-power-award/
2) find out more about the awards here: https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/collective-power-award-2022-shortlist
Thank you so much, Raj!
Look out for more Q&As soon — and please do share your thoughts, reflections and questions with us, either here or via hello@wearecast.org.uk.
