You're going to hear more from Chanel Grenaway in course two of the gender analytics specialization, when she will talk with you about participatory research. But I wanted to talk with her now because she was the project lead in developing the gender analysis competency framework, and work with us to define the needs we had to meet in designing this gender analytics specialization. Chanel is principal at Chanel Grenaway Associates. She's an expert in gender-based intersectional analysis and has had over 18 years of experience in the non-profit and government sectors working on reducing poverty, creating equitable access for unrepresented groups, and strengthening organizational capacity and leadership. She's often called upon to apply gender analysis to projects, to facilitate multi-stakeholder conversations, and to conduct participatory research that informs project design. Her mission is to support the development of more equitable systems and opportunities for under-served groups. Listen in particular for the surprises that came up during our research to develop the competency framework. Our gender analysis competency framework helps to answer the question of; how do you do meaningful gender and analytics work? Based on our research, this was a consistent question that emerged from the private, public, and non-profit sectors. It's hard to conceptualize how you do this work and how you incorporate it into your day to day activities and thinking. Competency framework can add another way of explaining and demonstrating how this work can be done. It also can give leaders a framework that they can use to assess the skills and capacity of existing staff. It can be used to recognize existing knowledge and support for staff in terms of professional development, learning and skills building. It can also be used as a pathway for both employers and employees that want to explore this type of work further. I think even when organizations are looking to hire external consultants for gender analytics, this competency framework can be useful. The competency framework can also help to add clarity to the variety of roles and responsibility of team members. Who is going to lead the research phase and what's needed for that job: Who is coordinating the data analysis, and who is responsible for the translation of the data and dissemination of findings. Organizations can use this matrix to help map out staff roles at the various stages of work. After completing an environmental scan and developing the gender analytics course, GATE was really in a good position to develop the framework and leverage learnings from the research. Before we started, we researched the examples of related competency frameworks, explored promising practices in this area, and also spoke to stakeholders to really get an idea of what they needed in terms of a competency framework. I was also happy to share my learnings from my experiences related to community engagement and participatory practices that support people with diverse lived experiences, to share their realities and expertise. I think there are fundamental practices that the public and private sector can adapt when planning stakeholder engagement strategies, including the importance of starting from a place of learning and empathy. When we created the matrix, we started with looking at the skill capacity levels, and created descriptions for those. We broke down the critical elements of gender analytics, understanding of what it is and how to apply it. We also considered the vital organizational and cultural supports required to create the conditions for success. We then began to complete the matrix by developing a list of the major core competencies for each phase of work by knowledge level, so for those in the basic level, intermediate, and advanced levels. Underlying our work was the learning pedagogy that starts with, one, awareness and understanding, moves to two, implementation of techniques, practices and skills, and three, application of the skills and knowledge to complex cases. We also created avatars to help us stay grounded. For example, we thought about what would a support person on a gender analytics projects need to know? What would the experience of a project or program manager need to know? What issues would a gender analysis leader or expert have to solve? I think what was created is a wonderful and practical tool that organizations can use as they consider how to build a team and embed gender analytics into their projects, in organizations as a whole. There were lots of surprises. Firstly, there is a lot of work to do to build the awareness and understanding of what gender analytics is, and how you can use it to build equitable services, products, programs, and policies. The spectrum of capacity and understanding of this work is varied and vast, and I think that was a bit surprising too. I think it is a result of a few things and namely; the barriers to entry. For many organizations, again, they don't know where to start. They may understand the theory and concepts in principle, but because there are no how-to manuals, it's hard for many organizations to take the learnings and apply it to their particular situation, or to even re-imagine a new system and way of working. This only happens by doing and you have to start somewhere and build from there. I've seen organizations try on a small scale or even on a small project, but they often get stuck and revert back to traditional ways of gathering information, and developing or expanding programs. Language may also act as a barrier for some individuals. Some people don't want to engage in "gender work," however they define it. Some are not open to learning about related concepts like intersectionality, gender identity, and equity. Related to this might be the fear of getting this work wrong or of causing more harm than good. The fact that this work requires a level of customization is also to be considered. It requires resources and time, all of which can seem daunting or overwhelming, especially when you have existing processes and practices that seem to be doing a good enough job. It was also a bit disappointing to recognize that employees struggle with getting leadership onboard, maintaining momentum for this work and scaling initiatives. On the other hand, I'm hopeful that there will be increasing uptake and curiosity about how we can do things better. I think we can use the power of stories, case studies, and reports, that demonstrate the value from multiple perspectives, and the necessity for dismantling traditional definitions of ideal clients or stakeholders for meaningful engagement of under-represented groups that have unmet needs, untapped ideas, and different lived experiences. I think there are three key competencies. One is relationship building and empathy. I always say, don't underestimate the power and value of connection, especially with underrepresented groups. Critical thinking and reflection is another important competency. The ability to ask different questions is a great place to start with this work. Finally, iterative learning. That ability to take risks, to create a culture that embraces learning, failure, testing. There's no such thing as a perfect gender analysis process. There's always something to learn. It's not a quick fix, and recognizing that it is also very important.
