11 Years, 11 Reflections on a Feminist Journey

As she transitions from her role as CEO, Bettina Baldeschi shares some of the reflections, lessons and hopes from her chapter at IWDA.

It’s not possible to capture more than a decade of collaborations, adventures, dramas, insights, laughter and learning in words, whether writing long or short. We live this life and build the future one moment at a time. But reflecting on my 11 years with this remarkable feminist organisation, six years as CEO, there are some themes that stand out and ideas that function like songlines in the landscape, carrying feminist herstories and insights forward.

IWDA staff attend the Women Deliver 2023 Oceanic Pacific Regional Convening

1

Values are our compass

An organisation’s values tell ourselves and others what we think matters. They guide focus and action. The work undertaken in 2016 to update IWDA’s vision, purpose and values has guided our work ever since. Importantly, we placed the ‘F’ word front and centre. Feminist. Accountable. Collaborative. Transformative. Elevating feminism as a core value strengthened the connection between who we are and what we do. And strengthening the connection between context, purpose and action supports relevance and impact. I am proud of IWDA’s position as an unapologetically feminist organisation, and I hope to see more organisations, policies and programs saying the F word out loud – because it matters.

Bettina and her daughter attend an International Women's Day march. Bettina is wearing a purple blazer over a white top and has her arms raised as she chants. Her daughter is holding a homemade sign and is chanting.

Bettina and her daughter attend an International Women's Day march in 2018

2

A good brand is more than window dressing

The beginning of my time at IWDA was spent leading our communications and fundraising work. Together we reshaped IWDA’s brand identity – and it was in this work that the vision statement, purpose and values changed too. We recognised that brand was more than a logo and new colours (although getting that right was important too!). It was about changing the way we present and talk about ourselves to ourselves, and to the world.

The boldness of the brand represents the boldness needed by feminist leaders. A 'pinch me' moment was being with Australia's first woman Prime Minister at our office as she stood strong in front of our brand and values.

Julia Gillard visits the offices of IWDA

Bettina on stage at the 2023 Women Deliver conference in Kigali surrounded by leaders from the women's rights movement.

Bettina, centre, joins feminist leaders on the main stage of Women Deliver in Kigali.

3

Understanding and sharpening our contribution is key

Transformational feminist change requires collaboration. And collaboration requires clear-eyed understanding of organisational contribution. Over the past six years IWDA has evolved as a reference organisation on gender equality, with increasing influence and recognition in the feminist movement.

We have evolved to understand when we are best placed to step back, stand with and step up.* We have also worked on our capacity to sit with discomfort, acknowledge uncertainty, show vulnerability. This to me is a direct counter to patriarchy, which often demands we have all of the answers, all of the time.

It has been an immense privilege to be part of IWDA’s evolution as a contributor to feminist movements, alongside our role in resourcing other organisations in the movement too.

*“Step Up, Stand With, Step Back” is an adaptation of the framework proposed by Shirley Walters and Shauna Butterwick in their 2017 publication, Moves to Decolonise Solidarity Through Feminist Popular Education. “Sit with” was added to the framework based on feedback provided to IWDA by Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair in Race Relations Yin Paradies.

Bettina and Nalini Singh (Executive Director of Fiji Women's Rights Movement) are posing together for the camera. They are smiling and have their arms around each other.

Bettina alongside Nalini Singh (Executive Director at FWRM)

Bettina and Deanne Weir in conversation at the IWDA office.

Feminist strategising with Deanne Weir

Bettina visits partners at United Sisterhood, Cambodia

4

The how matters

I am a big believer in process – process as a means of empowerment, accountability and authenticity. Purpose – why we exist – and what we do are critical, and so is the how. How we show up in the world. How we do what we do. While we work to make change in the world, we also work on ourselves to be the change we want to see. This is part of the feminist project. Working on ourselves has been an important part of my time at IWDA. Together, we have firmly placed feminism at the heart of our values, committed to a program of cultural transformation, and meaningfully charted a course to becoming an explicitly anti-racist feminist organisation. I am beyond grateful to the many people who have helped steer IWDA on a journey of critical self-reflection, and who have helped to correct our course when we faltered.

Visiting partners in Myanmar

A collage of IWDA's and Equality Insights' different reports, publications and toolkits.

A selection of IWDA's powerful knowledge products

5

Feminist knowledge is powerful – when applied

When I reflect back to the words I wrote down before accepting the position of CEO, I am proud of their ongoing relevance. I was focused on IWDA being a progressive feminist organisation, one that is enabling of others, and one that strives to be among the sharpest tools in the toolbox.

The organisation has a remarkable herstory of engaging in research, building new knowledge, translating that knowledge into practical toolkits to enable others to benefit. But there was much to be done to connect these contributions, to use them ourselves, and to support others to use the knowledge and guidance for change. Through powerful knowledge products such as our Feminist Organisational Capacity Strengthening Toolkit, Plan Your Power and our research and advocacy on Feminist Foreign Policy, IWDA has contributed to powerful ideas and practical action, grounded in evidence.

Feminist knowledge creation is often about addressing blind spots and silences. I’m proud that in 2020, IWDA resourced groundbreaking research led by Oceanic feminist researcher and storyteller ‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki. Creating Equitable South-North Partnerships: Nurturing the Vā and Voyaging the Audacious Ocean Together featured the perspectives of Pacific women involved in the women’s rights movement across 30 years. Among their reflections, many of those interviewed shared honest critique of ways in which Minority World organisations had undermined the autonomy of Pacific women’s right organisations and perpetuated colonial practices. Ofa’s research was a pivotal moment in IWDA’s evolution and demonstrated what decolonising our practice could look like. It reinforced the idea that to truly create equitable partnerships, we must honour and nurture the relationality and relationships at their heart.

An illustration from the cover of the Equitable South-North Partnerships report

6

What is counted counts

Before my time as CEO, I also worked with IWDA’s Individual Deprivation Measure team, which we have since taken forward and extended as Equality Insights – a gender-sensitive measure of multidimensional poverty. For priorities and decisions to connect to lived realities, those realities need to be visible to decision makers. In evidence and advocacy. As trailblazing feminist economists have shown, what is counted counts. The Equality Insights team’s tenacious pursuit of a more inclusive and accurate way to measure poverty is creating opportunities to better understand and transform barriers that perpetuate poverty and inequality. I am so proud of this program and its ongoing contribution.

Bettina with Equality Insights team members Joanna Pradela and Joanne Crawford

Bettina and feminist leaders Virisila Buadromo and Noelene Powell dancing together at Prospera conference.

Dancing with feminist leaders including Virisila Buadromo and Noelene Powell at a Prospera conference.

7

There is nothing like feminist friendship

What is a revolution without joy? There has been so much fun and laughter, even in the midst of challenge and outrage. In IWDA, I have found a village of support in challenging times.

Feminist organising is about trust, and I have been privileged to form trusting relationships with people I deeply admire, both inside and outside of IWDA. Often, the strength of a relationship can be measured by the robustness of conversations. The depth, substance, vulnerability and honesty on display says much about the health and significance of the relationship.

I have seen IWDA’s external relationships, particularly with partner organisations, deepen and strengthen over the past decade. This has been particularly evident during times of crisis – closing civil society space, military coups, substantial funding losses, a global pandemic. In those dark times, our long-standing and trust-based partnerships and friendships, our shared understanding of the essential role of women’s rights organisations, have provided the foundation to persist and resist.

Laughing with IWDA's leadership team in 2021

Bettina is standing behind a podium as she addresses the room.

Bettina gives her address as part of the bid for the Women Deliver Conference to be hosted in Melbourne, 2019

8

Collective care and solidarity are antidotes to despair

At one of my final staff meetings at IWDA, a member of our team shared the concept of ‘glimmers’ – small moments that spark feelings of joy and gratitude. It is so important to hold on to your glimmers when times get tough. For me, a glimmer of hope lies in the way we care for one another. Collective care is one of the antidotes to despair, and solidarity is how we fight back against deepening polarisation and division.

Bettina and Salmah laughing together as they take part in a weaving activity at the IWDA office.

Weaving together with IWDA's Dr Salmah Eva-Lina Lawrence

Illustration by Antra Svarcs

9

Feminist organisations and movements are vital – for all of our futures

The world needs feminist organisations and movements now more than ever. Global anti-rights movements present a growing challenge, fuelled by significant resourcing compared to progressive feminist movements (both quality and quantity of funding). Pivotal elections in 2024 could deepen divisions and increase the pace of polarisation, bringing risk that anti-rights movements expand their influence.

Feminist organisations and movements offer new possibilities, more nuanced, creative and evidence-informed understandings of challenges and opportunities. Where the anti-rights agenda presents the world in black and white, feminism offers a rainbow of perspectives and possibilities.

I am particularly excited about the ways in which IWDA, as part of the wider feminist movement, is offering new solutions to sticky problems (for example – feminist foreign policy, inclusive gender data, feminist funding and more).

A crowd marching at an International Women's Day rally in Timor-Leste.

International Women's Day march in Timor-Leste. Photo by Harjono Djoyobisono

A Woman Human Rights Defender from Bougainville has her back to the camera as she addresses a large crowd gathered in front of her.

Women Human Rights Defenders gather in Bougainville. Photo by Harjono Djoyobisono

10

If you believe in the power of feminist organisations, fund them

It is critical that rhetorical support for the work and leadership of feminist organisations and movements is combined with resourcing that reflects the scope and scale of challenge and risk.

During my time at IWDA we have worked to grow the pie of feminist funding and I am proud of the impact we have seen in this area. But there is much more work to do, particularly in the face of the anti-rights movements I mentioned previously.

In the Pacific region, 2023 demonstrated the difference that resourcing makes to the work of connecting and convening feminist movements for collaborative change. In the lead up to Women Deliver – one of the world’s largest conferences on gender equality – we collaborated on a series of national and regional convenings to ensure the global spotlight would be on the issues that mattered most to communities. IWDA was proud to play a role in facilitating the largest ever cohort of Pacific delegates to attend the Women Deliver conference in Kigali, where they had the space and profile they rightfully deserved. The thrill of sharing a space with 6300 feminists and co-conspirators will stay with me always.

A graphic illustration representing ways to shift funding with a feminist lens.

An illustration depicting conversations on feminist philanthropy, scribed by Kate Baxter

Bettina and IWDA staff members are gathered under a banner in the IWDA office that reads, "Gender equality for all." They are smiling and have their fists raised.

IWDA staff, 2023

11

IWDA’s feminist herstory continues as she enters her roaring 40s

As I transition out of my role as CEO, I become a friend of IWDA alongside our many committed supporters. And as IWDA approaches its 40^th year in 2025, there is much to be hopeful for.

Firstly, there are the movements of fierce, tenacious and insightful feminists who are reshaping our world for the better. The tireless actors of the Solomon Islands feminist movement who are striving for greater representation of women in leadership. The powerful Myanmar women’s rights activists who are resisting in the face of tyranny. The feminist campaigners across the Pacific at the forefront and frontline of advocacy for climate justice. And the groundswell of people fighting for an end to gender-based violence in all its forms. There are so many more stories, and they all demonstrate that change work is about perseverance and agility. It’s both a marathon and a sprint. You must be there for deep strategising, relentless advocacy and relationship-building. And you must also be prepared to act quickly when an opportunity presents itself.

Another source of positivity and joy as I leave IWDA lies in our most recent stakeholder perceptions review – an independently-conducted survey of IWDA’s partners, collaborators and resource partners. Overall there was a very positive perception of IWDA’s performance, effectiveness and relevance, but perhaps the most significant finding for me was when partners and collaborators were asked about how well IWDA practices its values. To this question, respondents gave an average ranking of 9 out of 10. This sentiment was also reflected in the previous stakeholder survey, which included this powerful response from a collaborator about IWDA’s point of difference:

“(IWDA) is explicitly feminist and transformative… All about the power structures and how you change them. IWDA is not about charity for even a second, it’s about disrupting power structures for greater empowerment of women. When I say feminist, I mean that as a method.”

Under new leadership, I know IWDA will continue to evolve into the next best version of itself, with feminism as the method.