JEDAI: Challenging the status quo and walking the talk
The Transition Network has always been rooted in social and ecological justice values and principles. But we, as a team, felt that something important was missing. Hear about our ongoing journey and join the conversation: find pathways and opportunities at the end of this blog.
We would like to be accountable and make transparent where we’re at, and the steps we’re taking to become better skilled and embody JEDAI: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion, in ways that feel aligned with the changes we want to ripple across the movement and the world.
Our hope is that by sharing some of this process, we can collectively keep these conversations and policies alive and adaptable in service to our ever evolving landscapes (our internal / external conversations, contradictions, celebrations, challenges and conflict), because we are complex and imperfect beings! We are also existing (some thriving, some barely surviving) within various social structures, also known as systems of oppression (e.g. colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy) which continue to impact us in myriad ways, both known and unknown, conscious and unconscious.
The JEDAI pathway
First steps
Back in January 2023, we enlisted the paid skills and experience of People Support Coop (PSC) who have been active in shaping policies and processes alongside many organisations (cooperatives, charities, NGO’s, community groups) challenging the status quo and aligning their policies to reflect their ways of working, whilst also remaining employment law compliant – no mean feat! PSC have also been instrumental in RadHR, a learning and sharing network and community that are clearly passionate about this work.
The JEDAI policy
This policy, which we choose to call JEDAI, is an acronym for Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility & Inclusion and was co-created by a number of team members from TNi and People Support Coop.
Feel free to reach out to us with questions and feedback, and to take this as inspiration for your work if that’s helpful in any way.
In the UK at least, many mainstream organisations call this policy EDI (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) and it is often a tick box exercise ensuring that as an employer, this policy covers them (from a risk, law, compliance perspective) in relation to the UK Equality Act 2010, which highlights the following 9 protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
To be honest, putting this policy together hasn’t been easy at all. It was in draft format for a long time with 5 versions before this final one. Amber held the main accountability and her inner critic and position as a white, UK based, long term employee, often made her question things and doubt she was the right person to hold it. She often felt blocked as she really wanted it to mean something and not be aspirational. There was also a real tension between the need for this to be a working policy, but also a living and breathing one which could be collectively held by the whole team. We didn’t want to use a standard EDI template, we truly wanted a guiding piece that supports us to embody the values we believe in and work for. After some paralysis, a version was finally circulated for feedback across the team. At times, it felt difficult to integrate or respond to some comments, but we made it, and finally consented to the TNi JEDAI policy which alongside all our policies and in the spirit of our shared governance is shared as Good Enough for Now and Safe Enough to Try.
The training
In order for our team to reach a deeper understanding of what JEDAI actually means to each of us in our different contexts (across geography, language, culture, colonisation, wealth, class, sex, education, status, etc.), and how it shows up in how we support the movement, we are setting off now on a learning journey accompanied by the team at Ulex Project.
The Team Wellbeing Working Group (currently Amber, Anahí, Esther) shortlisted and contacted several potential training providers. This was after asking our team for feedback on any previous training they may have attended (as a participant or facilitator) and any recommendations for JEDAI (aka De-Colonisation, Anti-Oppression, Collective Liberation, Active Solidarity) training providers.
Amber had an honest conversation with two team members who shared some reflections about an anti-oppression training they attended in 2024. We agreed that because we three had already been colleagues for a number of years, there was already an established trust that enabled this open conversation to happen. Some key takeaways and questions:
- Care is needed, before, during and after – intention setting, preparation, patience and planning are paramount
- Meet people where they are
- How we collectively show up, as both facilitators and participants is important, especially when things get difficult
- It lands differently in different parts of the team
- Wounds being opened and people being triggered (leading to potential conflict) are not just possible, but likely – how we respond to this is crucial
- Time, care and space is needed for people to respond to challenges. An open held space should be offered after each training session – for decompression and/or processing tricky feelings
- Huge learning and growth, despite being challenging
- North Star: how do we collaborate better, across and honouring our differences?
- How to be regenerative with what we’ve learnt?
This starts with us laying the foundations, tending to the soil and sowing seeds so that by the time we meet as a team for the training sessions in early 2027, there is some collective understanding of why we are meeting and what we hope to manifest.
Join the conversation
Obviously, this doesn’t happen in a void, but as part of the movement we’re serving and being part of. Here are three invitations for you:
- How do you embed JEDAI work in your groups and communities? We’d love to hear. Feel free to reach out to us or to join the discussion on Community Waves.
- Join the Equinox gathering on September 24th, where we’ll be collectively learning and discussing JEDAI with two lovely guests from collectives rooted in these principles (Uma Uma Rainbow Collective from Nairobi, and Queer Food Growing Collective, from Kenya).
- Check out TNi’s JEDAI policy and other Just Transition resources available. Let us know whether they’re helpful, feel free to share your feedback.
Looking forward to this next stage of the crossing, and to sharing our learnings and progress with you all.
In community,
TNi Team Wellbeing Working Group
Amber, Anahí and Esther
