Resources

At Unity Effect, we were honoured to co-develop and implement the impact evaluation of "Envisioning an Inclusive Social Entrepreneurship Sector in Germany", a flagship initiative led by SEND e.V. and supported by Google.org’s Social Innovation Fund. Using our Impact Garden methodology, we explored how inclusive funding structures, trust-based support, and systemic collaboration can empower founders from underserved communities.

In this case study we learn with Juan Francisco how his organisation, ChangemakerXChange, used the Impact Garden to evaluate one of their cohort-based programs.

After seven years, Emily, co-founder of Unity Effect, is leaving the core team and moving back to her home country of Australia. Carla and Emily took a moment to sit down together with a hot cup of tea to look at the transitions we are facing.

Jointly with the Institute Work and Technology (IAT) of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and AiDiA - the Afro-German Start-Up Pitch, we started a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The essence of that project? Developing a framework to evaluate the innovativeness between migrant entrepreneurs and innovation ecosystems.

Imagine a future where innovation isn’t just about the latest tech, but about healing our planet and uplifting our communities—that's what Regenerative Innovation Ecosystems (RIE) are all about. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of Regenerative Innovation Ecosystems, which focus on building coalitions of diverse organisations or departments to foster systemic innovation rooted in regenerative principles and practices. ‍

If we consider and value the special role of Source and pay attention to the order and connection of Sources in our initiatives, they become powerful and focused. Working with Source allows us to follow the flow of creativity and commitment – exceeding formal hierarchies and mission statements on paper – to let human initiatives thrive.

The core idea of the Impact Garden is to understand and measure the conditions for systemic change, and to consider how to best contribute to it with one’s available resources. In this article, we lay out the model with its different elements - and how you can start using it today.

Knowing about the shared desire and need for deliberate exchange about regenerative approaches in evaluation, we founded a Community of Practice (CoP) in the summer of 2023.

At Unity Effect, we have been experimenting from day one with what supports us, knowing about the challenges not only to “talk New Work”, but to embody a paradigm of true collaboration. After countless hours of research, facilitation, supporting events, measuring impact and networking, we have now gathered all that we’ve learned and experienced in one place for you: Unity Effect’s Living Library.

In this article we share the insights we gained from evaluating the impact of our Purpose Journey, including the underlying conditions for creating safe & transformative online spaces, the surprises waiting inside and making decisions and taking action in connection with yourself.

Reconceiving why, how and what we measure can have tremendous leverage. Instead of pressuring ourselves to achieve external goals and meeting reporting deadlines, we could see the process of measurement as an ally on our path to learn, grow and deepen relationships. 

In this toolbox we have put together a number of tips and methods for collective decision-making, a key leverage point to share responsibility, decentralise power and unlock the capacity for creativity and innovation in a team.

Unity Effect has been working with the Kofi Annan Foundation since June 2022, both to design and facilitate online and in-person sessions for the Changemakers Initiative, and to evaluate the impact of the programme. This case study focuses on the impact evaluation and outlines how we designed and implemented an evaluation framework, based on our approach to Regenerative Impact Evaluation.

Giving feedback - and receiving feedback - is a crucial skill for leaders and teams. Yet effective feedback starts before the actual conversation. Here are some of the key conditions which set the stage for a feedback conversation to be empowering for both the giver and receiver.

Turning to difficult situations and conflicts in joint conversations requires courage; also in the work context; even though it is our role and task. Why? Because it's uncomfortable. But ignoring a difficult situation, looking the other way, pretending it's not there, can cause more damage in the long run. 

Sich schwierigen Situationen und Konflikten in gemeinsamen Gesprächen zuzuwenden erfordert Mut; auch im Arbeitskontext; auch wenn es unsere Rolle und Aufgabe ist. Warum? Weil es unangenehm ist. Es aber zu ignorieren, wegzusehen, so zu tun als wäre es nicht da, kann auf Dauer mehr Schaden hervorrufen.

Im individuellen Begleitprozess eröffnen wir gemeinsam die Möglichkeit, sich deinen Fragestellungen und Themen zuzuwenden, bei denen du das Gefühl hast festzustecken, die herausfordern oder man einfach mal einen Blick und Spiegel von „Außen“ braucht. 

In this article we share concrete examples of how we fill the term “social enterprise” with life, including our commitment to steward ownership, what it means to be “for-purpose” in our daily work, giving back and being part of a global ecosystem, and enabling personal learning and wellbeing.

In this toolbox we have put together a number of tips, practices, skills and methods for giving and receiving feedback - a crucial skill for empowering leaders and collaborative teams.

This article explores the difference between choices and decisions, why awareness of choice matters, as well as the different levels of networks & systems and how to navigate them with agency. We offer reflective exercises and actionable ways to engage choice for creating systemic impact.

Planning an event or workshop can be daunting as there are so many details to think about. That’s why we’ve put together this list of questions which we ask ourselves and our clients when we design a gathering.

A clear focus and intention supports you to not overload your workshop, event or conference with tools and methods, but cut down to those you really need and which are actually supportive to your participants. And in doing so, create time and space for them to really engage. 

Moderators and facilitators play a crucial role in the success of online workshops and events. They create the atmosphere, make sure participants feel welcomed, keep the time and the discussions on focus and create clarity for everyone joining. That’s why we have put together this list of go-to phrases for each step of the process. 

We want to offer you some powerful questions to guide you in starting out the year. Join us in reflecting on your intention, vision, desired contribution, learning, acting in uncertainty and your personal strengths.

Trust and psychological safety are foundational for empowered and effective teamwork. Why are they so important and how can we build them intentionally?

For us at Unity Effect, listening is a core capacity for facilitators and leaders. It supports us to create spaces and cultures of trust and appreciation, to discover new insights and ideas, and to connect with others on a deeper level.

In the context of facilitation, and in particular in online spaces, the ability to create psychological safety is really important. This includes creating a space where your participants feel safe to share and contribute, as well as feeling safe yourself. 

What are your associations with words such as “measurement”, “evaluation” or “indicator”? For many people these words sound annoying at best, and there are good reasons for it. Yet it can be a deeply empowering process that reveals hidden opportunities and structural challenges, creating empathy between groups of people. 

The times are certainly changing, and leadership is too. We have been faced with a lot of change and uncertainty in the past year and it has taught us a lot about what is and isn’t working in the way we lead.

In 2020 we had the opportunity to guide 12 members of the Bosch Alumni Network through our Changemaker Journey, developing inner capacities to create meaningful change in uncertainty.

Together with the Skills Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization we worked to build a network of innovators around the topic of skills innovation. In this case study we will share our most important learnings for setting up and working with networks in a collaborative way.

How do we lead in the face of so much uncertainty, when there’s no best practice to draw from, when there’s no single best solution and when even our top level leaders are out of their depth? How can we provide clarity to others about which direction to take when even knowing what will happen in one week’s time seems like an unsolvable mystery?

If you are a leader, or a human, or a human who is leading, you have probably experienced this in some form or other. It’s there in the moments when you think: How the heck did I get myself into this position?

You know that moment when someone asks you for a favour and you immediately feel it in your belly: no. No way. I have way too much on already. Or maybe more simply: I do not want to do that. I just don’t.

As we at Unity Effect have already been running our workshops and programs online for a while, we have put together this practical guide to share some of the simple tips and tools you can use to make your online gatherings more engaging and productive.

Our experience of conceptualising and running a digital barcamp for change agents across Germany with the teams from Engagement Global and Bonn.digital.

Can you imagine if someone back in January had described our current reality to you? Would you have believed that things could change so quickly and that – weirdest of all – it would actually start to feel normal.

This year brought us some unimagined challenges. Our workplaces shifted towards online spaces in a glimpse of an eye. How can you bring your team together and create a sense of connection and trust while working online?

It is part of our company philosophy to seek strategic and mutually empowering partnerships that go beyond individual projects. FLOCERT is one example.

Have you heard about strange attractors? In this new post, our co-founder Jannik Kaiser explores the world of chaos, dynamical systems and complexity.