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Shifting Power Accelerator

4.8

(10 ratings)

ยท

8 Weeks

ยท

Cohort-based Course

Join a community of global aid and development leaders not just talking about shifting power but actually doing it.

Trusted by

United States Agency for International Development
Unhcr
FHI 360
Save the Children International
Plan International

Course overview

Gain the skills & confidence to shift power to the communities you serve.

The time for local leadership, equal partnership, and decolonizing aid is now.


Are you looking for a non-judgmental, compassionate space to learn how to shift power?


This is it.


Designed for busy professionals working for Global North institutions in the global non-profit, philanthropic, and public sectors, this course will help you navigate barriers to shifting power by learning key focus areas, frameworks and methods:


๐ŸŒ Liberatory futures

๐ŸŒ Power and decision-making

๐ŸŒ Influence and organizational change

๐ŸŒ Mutual capacity strengthening

๐ŸŒ Community-led design

๐ŸŒ Participatory grantmaking

๐ŸŒ Movement building


I've carefully crafted a practical, cohort-based course drawing from industry-tested frameworks in each focus area. I've also curated case studies from sector leaders who candidly share their challenges and steps to incremental change.


Besides group discussion with your peers (which you'll get plenty of), the most exciting part of the course is the experience of shifting power in real-time.


At the start of the course, you will invite a community accountability partner of your choice (e.g., a local civil society leader or a Global South colleague) to participate with you.


You will share course frameworks with your partner between each workshop, actively listen and reflect on the dynamics of your partnership, and work together on prioritized areas of power imbalance.


I'll be available during weekly office hours and 24/7 via the online course platform to offer personalized support for your specific and immediate challenges and goals.


Together, we will actively contribute to long-overdue changes across the global non-profit sector.


I can't wait to see you on the course!


Maya

Facilitator, Shifting Power Accelerator


P.S. Enroll by January 24 at 7:59 am EST for 20% off using this promo code: EARLYBIRD20.


P.P.S. Register for the upcoming live Q&A and information session with Cohort 2 graduate Pooja Singh on Wednesday, January 24: https://lu.ma/spaqa2401

This course is for you if...

01

Youโ€™re a non-profit, philanthropic, or public sector professional at a powerful institution expressly committed to shifting power.

02

Your organization has localization or equal partnership plans, but you need frameworks and peer support to implement them successfully.

03

You are ready to shift power meaningfully, have time to participate, and can invite a community leader to join you on the learning journey.

Practice industry-tested frameworks used by leading #ShiftThePower organizations

Validate your localization goals and objectives.

Shifting power requires critical inquiry. Youโ€™ll ask key questions to interrogate your motivations and your role, as well as measure how equal or community-led your partnership really is.

Give up gatekeeping for good.

Embrace a mutual capacity-strengthening model over outdated top-down capacity-building approaches. You'll prioritize areas for partner-led growth.

Overcome barriers to flexible funding.

Unrestricted funding can seem like a compliance nightmare. Youโ€™ll learn how flexible funds and participatory grantmaking works so that you can build your own mechanisms with partner and donor support.

Innovate your program design process.

Inviting input on project ideas is not enough for equal partnership. Youโ€™ll practice participatory and co-design methods for a truly community-led and bottom-up approach.

This course includes

13 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

74 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

9 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Mavenโ€™s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Expand all modules

  • Post-Course

    Modules

    • #7 Wrap up: Join the #ShiftThePower movement

    • #5 Practice a co-design principle and technique

    • #6 Draft your concept note

  • Bonus

    Modules

    • Bonus materials

    • Guest Expert Q&A

4.8

(10 ratings)

What students are saying

What people are saying

ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย I cannot recommend the Shifting Power Accelerator enough! This course is very practical.ย I am grateful for the cohort experience and the requirement to partner with a local leader or Global South colleague. They helped keep me accountable.ย Maya is also an incredible facilitator: inclusive and flexible, and challenges us towards meaningful action.
Anat Cassuto

Anat Cassuto

Independent Consultant & Feminist Financial Resilience Project Coordinator, XOESE: The Francophone Women's Fund
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Excellent course. The weekly projects allowed us to immediately apply the lessons. The learning resources were rich and diverse so I could dig as deep as I wanted. Maya's thoughtfulness and attention to detail showed up in every aspect: engaging activities, instructor feedback, and peer learning. One of the top training experiences of my career.
Alexis Cooley

Alexis Cooley

Clean Water Fund Project Officer, State of Oregon
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย It's a useful course, timely and relevant. It is structured effectively and facilitated in an interactive manner. I highly recommend it.
Bethlehem Mengistu

Bethlehem Mengistu

Global Coordinator, Agenda for Change
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Excellent delivery. Maya's course content on decolonizing aid and shifting power was extremely instructive and inspirational. The way that she designed the course for busy senior leaders made it very easy to follow.
Matthias Naab

Matthias Naab

UN Resident Coordinator, Cameroon
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The content and instruction were phenomenal. The cohort's solidarity was motivating and supportive. It was a semester's worth of reading and learning is shared in weeks, yet the many ways to learn and share made it easy to stay engaged. I appreciated the emphasis on partnering with a Global South colleague to learn and shift power in real-time.
Kate Cummings

Kate Cummings

Transition Director, The Lotus Institute; Associate and International Consultant, Tsunagu
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย You never know what to expect during any coaching session. Maya kept to task, and was respectful of the flow of conversation which made it easy to communicate freely. She challenged me. I like a good challenge. The session was just about right in duration - 1 hour. In the end, we set clear goals for achievement.
Samantha Dickson

Samantha Dickson

President, Grenada Red Cross Society
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Maya's well-thought-out curriculum and non-judgemental facilitation created a space for reflection on the difficult dynamics of the aid industry. She helped build a common understanding of the diverse perspectives on decolonizing and localizing aid. I took away new frameworks for conversations I have regularly in my work. Highly recommended.
Marisa

Marisa

Gender & Program Management Specialist, Southeast Asia
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Maya hosted an amazing online workshop on Power and Identity for 300+ global staff at UNHCR's Division of External Relations. I appreciated Maya's framing of the topic, making it accessible to people of different backgrounds. Her presentation style was also great. Maya is very professional and a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend her.
Guido van Heugten

Guido van Heugten

UNHCR Inter-Agency Coordination Officer
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Maya is fun, intelligent, highly communicative and easy to work with. What stood out is her critical questioning of international development efforts and smart solutions on how more horizontal and participatory processes can be captured...I would recommend Maya for defining your strategy and translating these to actionable, measurable processes.
Egbert Wits

Egbert Wits

Sr. Research & Program Manager, EngageMedia
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Maya helped us examine our organizational capacity and craft leadership KPIs...She transformed a typically dull or intimidating process into a fun and collaborative effort and was quick to help us get out of our own way...I highly recommend Maya as a professional who brings a unique combination of expertise and humanity to their work.
Dylan Dellosa

Dylan Dellosa

Sr. Organization Development Manager, EngageMedia
Free resource

Your sneak peek of the Shifting Power Accelerator

Want to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Shifting Power Accelerator?


This is a recording of a 50-minute informational session on the Shifting Power Accelerator, a transformative 7-week cohort-based course for global aid and development leaders ready to take action and shift power in their organizations and partnerships.


This recording includes:

  • a course overview of the S๏ปฟhifting Power Accelerator
  • a sneak peek of the course platform
  • a conversation with Cohort 1 alumni Kate Cummings about her experience, and
  • a l๏ปฟive Q&A session



Access the recording now!
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Shifting Power Accelerator

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Meet your facilitator

Mahrukh (Maya) Hasan

Mahrukh (Maya) Hasan

Sr. Technical Advisor. UN & NGO Consultant. DEI Expert. 20+ years of experience.

Mahrukh (Maya) Hasan is the founder of Fearless Project, an online education start-up for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In her 20-year career, Maya has managed partnerships, grants, design, M&E, communications, and research teams at NGOs supporting civil society in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, CAR, DRC, Myanmar, and South Sudan.


Maya was also a course developer and facilitator for the Global Executive Leadership Initiative (GELI) hosted by UNOPS, USAID, LSE, and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. She has an MA in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Fearless Project

Fearless Project

Tackle bias with courage and confidence

Fearless Project is an online education start-up for workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion.ย We help social impact leaders design work cultures where everyone can flourish.


We offer holistic DEI learning and transformation programs including courses, coaching, community, and consulting to accelerate change for aid and development organizations.ย 

An Applied, Practical Curriculum

5-6 hours per week

  • ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿซ Live Workshops

    Tuesdays at 8 am ET (2.5 hrs per week)

    One module per week with lessons walking you through shifting power topics and workshops to practice them. Workshop recordings are available within an hour, with additional resources to help you complete the next project.

  • ๐Ÿ™‹โ€โ™‚๏ธ Q&A with Maya or Special Guest

    Thursdays at 8 am ET (1 hr per week)

    Six 1hr live Q&A calls with Maya (or a Guest Expert) and the rest of the cohort to answer questions and dive deeper into that week's module and projects.

  • ๐Ÿซฑ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿซฒ๐Ÿพ Partner Assignments

    Due Fridays: Self-paced (2 hrs per week)

    Develop a Shifting Power Initiative by completing a series of small weekly assignments with your community accountability partner.ย Reflect and apply course frameworks following each workshop and work together on priority areas of power imbalance.

  • ๐Ÿ’ก 1:1 Coaching

    Post-course - you pick a date/time

    One 60-minute video call with Maya to discuss a topic of your choice, usually a professional, leadership, or organizational challenge. Get personalized feedback and advice within two months of the course.

  • ๐ŸŒ Community of Practice

    Post-course - lifetime access

    Stay in touch with Maya and other Shifting Power Accelerator Alumni via a WhatsApp group, an email listserv, Zoom support calls, and in-person meet-ups (at the bi-annual #ShiftThePower Summit or whenever possible!).

Interactive, cohort-based learning

Interactive, cohort-based learning

A Cohort of Applied Practitioners

You will join a supportive community of aid and development leaders not just talking about shifting power, but actually doing it.

Shared, Collaborative Learning

Through Maven, an award-winning e-learning platform, and Zoom, you will collaborate with peers via group discussions, discussion boards, and team projects.

Practical & Experiential, Tools-Based

Between workshops, you will report to a local partner of your choice (e.g., a local civil society leader or a Global South colleague). Using course frameworks, you will actively critically reflect on this partnership, working together on prioritized areas of power imbalance.

Who we've worked with

Who we've worked with

Your investment is 100% risk-free

Your investment is 100% risk-free

If you attend the sessions, fully participate, and still donโ€™t find the course valuable, weโ€™ll happily refund your full payment up to 14 days after the course ends.ย 


More details: Refund Policy

Get reimbursed by your employer

Get reimbursed by your employer

๐ŸŽ“ Use your organization's Professional Development budget

80% of our students get this course paid for by their employers. Since the course teaches critical skills, participation could even help get you promoted.


You won't know until you ask!

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿฝ Copy and paste this request template

It's awkward to ask your boss for funds. So we've made it easy. Just copy-paste, fill in the blanks, and send this template to your manager or budget authority.


https://tinyurl.com/spa-request-template

๐Ÿ† Course certificate & LinkedIn Badge

Upon completion, we will email you a certificate of completion, as well as a link to a LinkedIn Badge you can upload to your profile.


Here's what it looks like: https://maven.com/certificate/tFQXcwOW

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the expected time commitment?
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Do you offer any disability or inclusion accommodations?
I can't make it to the upcoming cohort. Can I join a future course?
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Stay in the loop

Sign up to be the first to know about course updates.

A pattern of wavy dots
Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

Shifting Power Accelerator

|

Bulk purchases

Free resource

Your sneak peek of the Shifting Power Accelerator

Want to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Shifting Power Accelerator?


This is a recording of a 50-minute informational session on the Shifting Power Accelerator, a transformative 7-week cohort-based course for global aid and development leaders ready to take action and shift power in their organizations and partnerships.


This recording includes:

  • a course overview of the S๏ปฟhifting Power Accelerator
  • a sneak peek of the course platform
  • a conversation with Cohort 1 alumni Kate Cummings about her experience, and
  • a l๏ปฟive Q&A session



Access the recording now!

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