GISF’s Executive Director, Jon Novakovic, talks about the power of communities in new podcast episode
This week, GISF’s Executive Director, Jon Novakovic, featured on the latest episode of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives, the podcast of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA).
The episode was themed around harnessing the power of communities and networks as tools for humanitarian learning. Jon spoke from his experience working with the GISF community, which comprises NGOs operating internationally and other organisations working in the public interest. Together, the GISF community is helping to improve security practices to keep aid workers safe.
“It’s really valuable to be able to speak with one voice – and communities can deliver that,” Jon said. “There are a number of communities around your community, so for us, whether it’s the UN, donors, commercial providers, you need to be able to speak with a single voice – and having a strong community really helps with that.”
Jon was joined on the episode by Ese Emerhi from the Global Fund for Community Foundations and Nancy Kankam Kusi from the West Africa Civil Society Institute. Both guests offered additional insights on the power of communities. For instance, Ese spoke about the long-term view necessary for community-building – a point which resonates with GISF, as an organisation approaching its 20th anniversary.
“Building communities takes time,” Ese said. “Communities ebb and flow according to the energy and interests of members who are participating. And so, for those who are convening, it is to understand that that this is several years in the making, several months in the making in terms of having a successful community that can then maybe evolve into an actual institution or an actual business once the problem has been solved.”
The episode was hosted by Esther Grieder, Global Partnerships and Communities Lead at HLA.
You can find this episode, along with all other episodes of Fresh Humanitarian Perspectives, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Buzzsprout.
GISF also produces its own podcast, which is returning for a brand-new season later this year.
As an organisation dedicated to building communities and sharing knowledge, GISF is always keen to have external guests on its podcast and to collaborate with other podcasts. If you are interested in appearing on the GISF podcast or would like a GISF staff member to appear on your podcast, please email christian@gisf.ngo.
