Mindset Liberation Approach

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We believe sustainable social justice is achieved when peoples’ voices are heard, their strengths are recognized, their needs are self-determined, and they are empowered to be fully engaged in the process of social change. However, social, economic and political inequalities create marginalization that excludes people from participating in processes of change and creates a discourse about these communities as vulnerable, weak and in need of assistance; a discourse which can be internalized by the communities themselves, entrenching their exclusion further and impeding people from being agents of change. Overcoming this requires their empowerment and the liberation of their communities from marginalized mindsets.

This is exemplified through our executive director Amal Elsana Alhjooj’s Mindset Liberation Approach, which seeks to understand people’s attitudes and contexts; liberate defeated, oppressed or victimized mindsets, and empower by building upon existing strengths of indigenous and local knowledge and practice. From this position of

deep understanding and strength, it is possible to organize, mobilize and act to change realities. With this approach people regain their self confidence and personal power so that they can be critical of oppressive systems of power, participate in decision making

processes, and create discursive and structural change based on their strengths, needs and desires.

Our approach interlinks training, practice and research. Our training programs are designed to teach our participants the Mindset Liberation Approach through an active learning process, and to develop service as a means for empowering communities and raising political and social awareness. In this way, service is not an end point, it is the

starting point for policy change. Through the community practice centres, our students apply the knowledge gained and work with communities to develop projects and provide services to solve social problems. Guided by the belief that knowledge produced by the

community will be used by the community, we conduct participatory action research to inform our training and practice. This recognizes the knowledge held within communities and places community members as equal partners in the solution creation process.