Five ways to practice active allyship

What do you call a cisgender white man who’s committed to tackling racism, sexism, and other issues that don’t personally affect him? An ally.

 

 

What allyship is

 

An ally is someone who is not a member of a marginalised community, but advocates for the needs of that group.

 

We can all be allies.

 

 

What allyship isn’t

 

Allyship isn’t about showing off how progressive you are.

 

This is what Mia McKenzie calls “ally theatre.”

 

That’s performativity, not real action.

 

True allyship means:

• Being proactive. An active ally doesn’t wait until they’re called upon, they’re always thinking about the needs of more marginalised people
• Speaking out, even when it’s uncomfortable or scary
• Caring more about the needs of marginalised people than about your own comfort or ease
• Using your power and privilege to help create change that benefits everyone
• Action not talk: relentlessly focusing on improving the material conditions, policies and practices in your charity

So how do we create a culture of active allyship?

 

 

1. Recognise harmful behaviour

 

To challenge and disrupt harmful behaviour, we need to be confident identifying it.

 

And that won’t come from just having an equality policy, or telling people we don’t tolerate racism, sexism, ageism, or heterosexism in the workplace.

 

We need clear guidance, concrete examples of what inclusion looks like, and robust processes for helping people notice, challenge, and disrupt harmful behaviours.

 

Quality training in diversity, equity and inclusion can help us to understand how systemic issues like racism, sexism, and cissexism shape people’s lives.

 

By learning to understand intersectionality, we can more accurately see and challenge oppression around us.

 

The whole team should understand what a microaggression is (a seemingly small moment of harm, like saying or spelling somebody’s name). And then they need to learn how to be active bystanders, so they can challenge or disrupt them (if it’s safe to do so).

 

From the most established senior leaders to the newest hire, everyone needs to understand and model inclusive practices. For example, learning how to say and spell people’s names, using everyone’s correct pronouns, making allyship part of your digital communications.

 

 

2. Practice calling people in

 

Debates about whether it’s better to call people in or out often serve as an unhelpful distraction from what really matters: impact.

 

But calling people in does tend to get better results, encouraging would-be allies to step up.

 

To model change, try to build a culture of sharing observations. These observations can be incredibly simple. For example:

• “I noticed you said x. I used to say that too, but someone explained to me that it’s inaccurate and can spread harmful stereotypes, so now I say y instead.”
• “Just a flag on the interview process, it looks to me like our process could exacerbate bias. Does anyone have any ideas for how we could work around that?”
• “Is there any reason we’re using this platform? It has accessibility issues.”

 

3. Seek progress over perfection

 

Many of us are afraid of getting things wrong.

 

Perhaps we hear a racist comment or see someone conducting interviews in a way that’s biased. We may feel like we can’t speak up, because we’re not perfect ourselves.

 

But nobody is perfect. Instead, we all need to take brave, messy, and consistent action.

 

How can you build “progress over perfection” into your charity’s culture?

 

Perhaps you could formalise it in your organisational values, or create a regular ritual where you celebrate team members for taking imperfect action.

 

 

4. Recognise allyship in staff reviews

 

Many charities have ambitious diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, but they struggle to convert them into concrete action.

 

In some cases, that’s because our policies and practices incentivise the wrong behaviour.

 

We might say we want more teamwork, but the only time we praise anybody is when they meet an individual fundraising target.

 

Our policies and practices need to  recognise and reward active allyship.

 

Could you make ally behaviours a part of your formal staff reviews?

 

 

5. Avoid saviourism

 

Allies aren’t saviours.

 

Allies act out of genuine solidarity and alignment with others, because they know that true equity is best for everyone.

 

When we see ourselves as heroes, we are likely to engage in superficial gestures. Because we care more about ourselves and how good we look, than about creating genuine equality and justice.  

 

Maybe the word ally is part of that problem.

 

Many of us sit on the sidelines, and still feel comfortable calling ourselves allies.

 

What if we held ourselves to a higher standard? Perhaps we don’t need allyship in our charities. Perhaps we need collaborators, accomplices, or co-conspirators.