Central to AmplifyChange’s mission is to build stronger, more resilient movements for SRHR. We do this through organisational strengthening initiatives and connecting organisations to each other for knowledge sharing. Faced with the challenge of time zones, distance, and digital security, we asked ourselves: how can we build a secure virtual community and create a platform for learning?
Enter the AmplifyChange Learn Community: a private online community connecting grantee partners, hosted on the platform Circle. The Learn Community provides a safe space for organisations to interact with each other about their work, their advocacy goals, and share events and learnings. Channels dedicated to specific SRHR issues, such as comprehensive sexuality education and abortion rights, allows for advocates seeking to make change on certain issues to share strategies and ideas.
On October 4th, 2023, we opened the AmplifyChange Learn Community to 131 founding members growing to over 355 members today.
Growth in the virtual community continues apace, with great promise for peer support and cross-partnership learning and development. The platform also hosts advocate resources – most notably, our skills-building courses.
SUPPORTING STRONGER ORGANISATIONS
As part of our effort to enhance organisational strengthening opportunities for grantee partners, we developed a series of in-house courses on areas identified by our grantee partners as priorities for organisational growth. This year, we successfully delivered 13 courses covering topics like Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Advocacy, Communications, Financial Management, Leadership, Strategic Planning, Keeping People Safe, and Fundraising.
Across all courses, numbers of applications ranged from 41 to 132. These levels of demand underscore the interest and need for learning opportunities for civil society groups.
The courses provided an opportunity for organisations to learn from experts across the globe, some of whom were current or former grantee partners, and to also learn from each other. As well as structured courses, AmplifyChange hosted a virtual wellbeing retreat to share skills and tips to support mental health and activist wellbeing and a five-day intensive workshop on dynamic advocacy. Hosting both live lessons and digital recordings meant that full completion of the courses ranged up to 80%. Feedback on courses has been positive and has led to positive change for the participating organisations.
[W]ith the skills gained, we are able also to change the staff on the knowledge, and now we are working as a team. So currently, we have the fundraising team, which we call resource mobilization team. Currently, we have two grants which we have acquired after the training.
Mavuto Jawado, Umunthu Plus, attended Fundraising Impact
Although we can only accommodate up to 40 participants per course, by also hosting an open community space, other grantee partners can connect with and learn from each other.
WHERE WE ARE
In order to assess the impact of the community on grantee partners and AmplifyChange’s work, we led a review process on the first year of implementation.
The key learnings:
- Having a clearly defined purpose boosted engagement and fostered learning through live courses. Each course became a rallying point for members to log on, connect, and dive deep into shared learning. With every session, our members could see how their contributions—be it asking questions, sharing resources, or joining discussions—built a foundation for impactful advocacy.
- Creating a peer-to-peer learning environment required a different engagement approach than expected. We found that connection can happen instantaneously—a simple question is often all it takes. We continue to encourage both our team and grantee partners to view the Learn Community as the natural go-to place for sharing their thoughts, situations, and questions.
- Sharing our missions and progress—knowing that someone halfway across the world celebrates our wins and feels our challenges—has been invaluable. This growing camaraderie and sense of togetherness has been one of the most rewarding aspects of our journey so far.
The pilot of this initiative has given AmplifyChange important considerations as we move into 2025. We need to:
- Enhance accessibility and flexibility to ensure our courses reach those who need them most, regardless of technological or language constraints.
- Deepen the practical, hands-on elements of our courses to ensure participants can immediately apply what they learn.
- Foster a vibrant learning community that extends beyond the duration of individual courses, leveraging the full potential of the platform.
- Continuously refine our offerings based on participant feedback and evolving needs in the SRHR advocacy space.
TOWARDS 2025
The untapped potential of the AmplifyChange Learn Community presents exciting opportunities. In 2025, we will focus on smoother onboarding of grantee partners into the Community. We will strengthen peer-to-peer learning through the Digital Course Library, so members who missed out on live courses can revisit them and earn certificates by participating and connecting. By making course replays widely accessible, building anticipation for each launch, and empowering grantee partners to vote on future topics, we can create a more dynamic, engaging, and community-driven learning experience.
We also look forward to stronger linkages between our Learn Community and the recently re-launched AmplifyChange Learn, a platform sharing practical guidance written by advocates, for advocates.
In the face of increasing global challenges for sexual and reproductive health and rights, we look forward to building our community and connections. As one participant in the Advocacy and Communications courses stated,
Being here has made me realise that the world is truly a global village.
Alu Azege, Media Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria
