Join Further, Faster

This programme is aimed at those who are already committed to anti-racism and have taken steps towards this work. You may have hit barriers that have stalled your progress or met the limit of your knowledge on this practice and so are keen to learn and do more. 

This programme does not aim to convince you of the need for anti-racism within the sector and so leaders should not be sent on this course but should be actively and keenly signing up to it. We expect participants to be demonstrably committed to and convinced of the need for anti-racism in mainstream civil society.  

You should be: 

• A leader in civil society (CEO or senior executive including well-positioned or influential trustees, eg chairs) in England or Wales (of any ethnicity) who has institutional power and influence to make change happen.
• Already taking positive steps in anti-racism work and are striving to go further, faster in a community of change makers.
• Prepared to immerse yourself in an approach that will challenge you and show how you may be complicit in systems of racism as well as bring community and clarity on what you need to do to make change.
• Self-aware and reflective and prepared to examine how your own power operates.
• Eager to grow personally and professionally and understand that owning mishaps and mistakes is part of anti-racist practice.
• Determined to continue the work beyond the 12-month cohort period, being mindful that anti-racism takes purposeful, sustained effort to overcome entrenched systems and culture.

Further, Faster is not for you if you;

• Have done no prior learning about ‘race’ and anti-racism.
• Are interested in equality, diversity and inclusion or interventions focused on ‘protected characteristics’ that do not centre racism.
• Are a middle manager or member of staff without executive decision-making responsibility in organisations.

Further Faster is intended to transform a sector and is a 12-month process with 2 in-person half-day gatherings and seven two-and-a-half-hour online smaller cohort group learning sessions, with support in between sessions.

To enable leaders at different types and sizes of organisations to participate in the programme, we have a sliding-scale fee structure. The fees pay for the expert facilitation, support, and delivery of the programme by anti-racism specialists.

If your application to be part of Further, Faster is successful, you will  be informed via email and invited to make payment via credit card or invoice.

If we are unable to secure sufficient eligible participants willing to pay the relevant fees, the course may not be able to go ahead.

Further, Faster will be kicked off with an in-person/hybrid half-day event where you will meet the whole Further, Faster cohort and your expert facilitators. Here you will share what you need from this programme and make collective and individual commitments to action for the year ahead. 

After this session, you will be working in smaller cohorts of up to eight participants who will form your learning set and your longer-term anti-racism action set. Together with your trainers from JMB and SJC you will then have a seven-part facilitated programmed across the year exploring different topics.

The programme will close with an in-person/hybrid half-day event when you will gather with the whole Further, Faster cohort to capture what has been achieved, explore and remove barriers for future programmes, and set collective and individual commitments for the year ahead.

The seven parts of the learning programme will be facilitated virtually and each part will be 2.5 hours long. The cohort work will be supported by interactive Miro boards, an online community hub and wider learning resources. Participants will be expected to undertake practice and homework between sessions.

• Beginning in July 2024 with an opening in-person whole-cohort gathering
• Seven online cohort sessions from September 2024 to June 2025
• In-person whole cohort close session – for reflection/celebration and recommitment in July 2025
• ≈ 9 days (63 hours) of time per participant over the programme (plus independent learning and homework tasks)
• Sliding scale fees dependent on organisational income to cover costs of programme facilitation, support and delivery  

Led by wonderful facilitators Pari Dhillon of the Social Justice Collective and Martha Awojobi of JMB Consulting, you will be supported on the 12-month programme by industry experts and the Home Truths 2 team

Cohort leads

Martha Awojobi

Hello, I am Martha! I am really excited about this programme; it feels like such an important opportunity for sector leadership to be part of the movement for justice and liberation, rather than standing in its way.

I run JMB Consulting, and we specialise in anti-racist practice. Whether that is helping Black led grassroots organisation to navigate the funding landscape, working with leaders to confront their relationship to white supremacy, or embedding anti-racism into organisational strategies and cultures, my approach is always bold, creative, and most importantly, joyful. Most people know me as the curator of Uncharitable (formerly #BAMEOnline), a home for political education in the third sector. We commission writers, artists, host events and a yearly conference exploring oppression in the third sector and our pathway to liberation.

Pari Dhillon

Hi, I’m Pari. I’m really glad to be part of a sector-wide learning programme towards racial justice. This feels like a massive opportunity for building anti-racism within our sector and as a result out into the work we do in society. I have spent most of my 25 year career working in the charity sector – I believe that in this moment we have huge potential to move beyond the old dynamics of charity and powerfully towards justice.

I run the Social Justice Collective, a small but mighty team of women and non-binary People of Colour. Our work is about creating social and racial justice through learning programmes, coaching, reviews and strategic support. We work with communities, organisations and leaders to learn and change so that they are creating social and racial justice in their purpose and their practice. Our values are anti-oppression, liberation, joy and being real.

Supporting team

Sanjiv Lingayah

Hello, I am Sanjiv. I am a researcher, writer and co-creator of the original Home Truths project and its sequel, Home Truths 2 and founder and director of Reframing Race. The research in Home Truths showed that civil society does not simply have a diversity problem; it has a racism problem.

The Further, Faster programme offers a unique chance to convene, challenge and equip civil society leaders to lift up the sector and to put anti-racism and race equity at its heart. My role in Further Faster is to help to surface learnings from the process so that we can better understand how to draw and follow the line towards transformation that allows all of us to thrive.

ACEVO

• Roberta Fusco, head of influencing
• Pamela Daniels, project manager of Home Truths Two

• New knowledge, insights and self-reflection on ‘race’, anti-racism and racial justice
• Increased capabilities to understand and navigate personal discomfort on these issues in an environment that is supportive, challenging and joyful
• New creativity and imagination to envision what an anti-oppressive civil society sector can look like
• Generate momentum towards serious practical action during and beyond the programme
• Establish peer relationships of trust and solidarity that extend beyond the programme

Expect to spend around 2.5 hours for monthly online meetings, with ‘homework, journaling and action’ in between. We will not specify the amount of time that should be allocated to homework and independent learning as everyone learns differently and we believe participants should take responsibility for allocating time to activities outside of the online sessions.

Two half-day in-person or hybrid (online) sessions where you can meet your cohort in person at the start and end of the process.

The cohort dates are fixed and cannot be changed. Please make sure that you can make time in your diary to attend as many sessions as possible before applying to take part. Please refer to the FAQ.   

There will be approximately 8-10 people in each group and you will be assigned to a cohort.

Please apply using the form linked to at the top and bottom of this webpage. You will be asked to complete some demographic and contact details information on the form AND record and upload a short video of yourself providing answers to a few questions, set by the course facilitators. Instructions for how to do this are included on the application form. 

Applications and videos will be reviewed by the course facilitators, Pari Dhillon and Martha Awojobi, who will be assessing against the following key elements:

• Willingness to be self-reflective and interrogate relationship to power
• Imaginative and joyful approach
• Understanding the limitations of equality, diversity and inclusion
• Values driven
• Systems thinker
• Collaborative

The facilitators have established a learning contract; we will also assess your understanding of and agreement with the principles below.  

Anti oppressive

• We centre the experiences, knowledge and voices of marginalised people within this work
• We are self-reflective about our roles in dismantling systems of oppression.
• We focus on power, rather than just identity, and see all systems of oppression as interlinked

Joy

• We want the process to feel generative for marginalised staff and work towards anti-oppressive organisations
• We believe joy can arise from the opportunity to undergo transformation and understanding our own role in enacting collective change
• We do not use joy as an excuse to avoid discomfort

Liberating  

• We seek to achieve liberation by working collectively to undo oppressions in ourselves, our work, and our communities
• We approach anti-oppression with creativity and curiosity instead of fear and defensiveness; we move toward liberation by collectively reimagining bold possibilities

Real

• This work is not an intellectual pursuit; anti-oppressive practice requires vulnerability
• We are actively committed to unlearning and learning, self-awareness and being honest with ourselves and others in the pursuit of change