IVCO 2024 Think Piece - Volunteering for solidarity

The think piece "Volunteering for Solidarity: The Power of Women’s Reciprocal Mentorship to Trigger Transformative Change," written by Cecilia Thompson, Nancy Lafrance, and Marcela Vallejos from CECI, explores how volunteering can go beyond mere giving to foster mutual growth and reciprocal collaborations. The authors highlight innovative examples, such as reciprocal mentorship between women from the Global North and South, as well as horizontal and equitable partnerships between organisations to tackle common challenges.

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How can the power of volunteering for solidarity go beyond merely giving, by driving mutual growth, learning, and reciprocal collaborations?

For decades, International Volunteer Cooperation Organisations (IVCOs) have mobilized individuals to support development initiatives of partner organisations, securing sustained government funding due to proven development results and effective public engagement. While their programs remain relevant, in a world beset by intersecting crises and challenges, they must adapt to better address power imbalances and trigger transformative change.

Transformative change can unfold when volunteering is rooted in reciprocal collaboration between individuals and organisations sharing common interests and objectives. This think piece presents innovative examples of such collaboration:

1. Reciprocal mentorship among women from the global North and the global South, where participants contribute equally, each assuming the role of mentor and mentee.
2. Horizontal and equitable relationships between organisations from the global South and global North, collaborating to tackle shared challenges.

These relationships aim to transcend entrenched power dynamics and deliver greater value to participating individuals and organisations, serving as leverage to reach and engage a broader public, and forging stronger human connections than traditional volunteering models.

The ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship in Solidarity’ Initiative

A standout example is the initiative ‘Women’s Entrepreneurship in Solidarity,’ part of the Volunteer Cooperation Programme of CECI (Centre d'étude et de coopération internationale), funded by the Canadian government. The programme pairs volunteer Canadian women entrepreneurs with women entrepreneurs from the global South. It also pairs Canadian organisations with those in the global South that influence the business ecosystem.

The program addresses gender-based barriers, such as lack of access to credit and tailored products, services, and networking. Women entrepreneurs often face isolation and greater challenges than men as they juggle care work obligations and discriminatory social and cultural norms while managing their businesses. The initiative fosters solidarity among women entrepreneurs and partner organisations in Canada and the global South, transforming the business ecosystem into one that is conducive to, adapted to, and supportive of women entrepreneurs. It shifts the dynamic from hierarchical ‘givers’ and ‘receivers’ to richer horizontal exchanges of experience, know-how, analytical questioning, and active listening.

Successfully piloted with women entrepreneurs in Bolivia and Senegal alongside their Canadian counterparts, this initiative focuses on the mutual exchange of expertise, experience, and skills between like-minded women entrepreneurs, businesses, and support organisations such as chambers of commerce. Through reciprocal mentorship, women-led businesses in Canada and the global South are expected to become more resilient, innovative, competitive, socially responsible, and better equipped to navigate and adapt to crises and rapidly changing environments. This reciprocal mentorship model is driven by the widespread interest among women entrepreneurs to engage in mutual exchanges based on respect, solidarity, engagement, sharing of experiences, and skills, which, in turn, impacts leadership roles within businesses, organisations, and communities.

CECI’s pilot initiative has facilitated these mutual exchanges. Canadian women entrepreneurs reported increased confidence, managerial skills, enhanced strategic thinking, strengthened networking capacity, and a better understanding of international markets. On the other hand, Bolivian and Senegalese women entrepreneurs enhanced their leadership abilities, developed a greater understanding of artificial intelligence, and improved their strategic communication skills. This collaboration also led to the adoption of more environmentally sustainable business models and the strengthening of organisational and business networks, resulting in increased public engagement.

Research shows that women entrepreneurs who benefit from mentorship programmes, particularly woman-to-woman mentorship, tend to be more successful than those who do not. Women-centered business models can drive social and environmental impact, community development, and poverty reduction. They can strengthen community services, improve health, living standards, and well-being, and empower women to claim their rights and contribute to advancing gender equality.

Impacts of Women’s Reciprocal Mentorship

Experience with the women’s reciprocal mentorship model highlights four areas of necessary paradigm shifts in the volunteering and development sector. These require ongoing questioning and strengthened collaborative efforts to recognize, address, and deconstruct existing power imbalances, creating spaces where horizontal relationships can thrive.

1. Volunteer Modalities: Volunteers are connected based on compatibility, common objectives, similar entrepreneurial paths and experience, mutual growth, respect, confidentiality, curiosity, and inspiration. Their relationships are facilitated through virtual and in-person connection opportunities, whether North-South, South-North, South-South, or national.
2. People-to-People Connections: The bonds formed in reciprocal mentorship are personal and professional, leading to mutual enrichment. Strengthened networks support vital business connections, local employment opportunities, partnerships, access to new markets, and environmentally sound procurement practices. Twinning women from diaspora communities with women entrepreneurs in their ancestral countries can be particularly successful.
3. Public Engagement: Collective actions on contemporary issues between partners from the global South and global North can amplify the impact of development outcomes. This is achieved through common communication strategies, networking, and the co-creation of innovative initiatives among various actors, including financial institutions, chambers of commerce, and civil society.
4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information Technology (IT): AI and IT have the potential to revolutionize volunteer modalities, working methods, and relationships, offering adaptive learning paths, data-driven insights, resource recommendations, and feedback mechanisms. This can increase the volume and value of reciprocal relationships among women entrepreneurs and organisations.

Volunteering for solidarity through reciprocal mentorship and equitable organisational partnerships has the potential to trigger transformative change, amplifying development impact across borders. By nurturing people-to-people and organisational connections rooted in common interests and shared challenges, public engagement can increase reach and impact. This also includes tapping into the vast potential of the private sector, which plays a crucial role in achieving lasting development results. Collectively, a dynamic ecosystem of mutual learning, support, and collaboration can be created, driving meaningful change and fostering a brighter future for all.

About the Authors:

Cecilia Thompson: Project Officer and Gender Specialist with CECI. Her work focuses on women’s economic empowerment, capacity-building for women’s organisations, and combating gender inequalities. She has worked with NGOs across Africa, Asia, Canada, and Europe, and with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

Nancy Lafrance: An experienced international development jurist with over 19 years of experience. She has led innovative initiatives in women’s rights, economic empowerment, and gender equality, and currently serves as the Director of CECI’s Volunteer Cooperation Programme.

Marcela Vallejos: CECI’s Director for Bolivia and Latin America, with a focus on women’s rights, youth empowerment, and climate change adaptation. She has managed various programmes, including EQWIP HUBS, and worked on water and gender issues in Bolivia and Peru.

To cite this document: Thompson, C.; Lafrance, N.; Vallejos, M. (2024). Volunteering for Solidarity: The Power of Women’s Reciprocal Mentorship to Trigger Transformative Change. International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum).