I work with individuals and organisations that identify as marginalised – clients, partners, and on my team.

If you are not marginalised but are interested in or are actively challenging systems of oppression, I will also prioritise working with you.

This could include decolonising, becoming anti-racist, intersectional, participatory, or addressing other inequities and structural imbalances. You may be based in a rich country and have your own privileges – as I do – but you are working actively to​ engage youth activists in poorer countries, for example.

Intention and values matter deeply to me.

I cannot support organisations that perpetuate existing power dynamics, are complacent in tackling these issues, or are happy to continue to benefit from their unfair privileges.

So what does it mean to be marginalised?

It means that certain groups of people with power and access, or systems of oppression, are hoarding it all and are keeping other groups from opportunities. They may be holding other groups back from even having access to resources. If you’re imagining a faceless mass of rich, old, White, non-disabled, cis-gendered men in polyester suits, you’d be right. 

You can be marginalised for several reasons, but here are some of the most common: due to economics, class, caste, neurodiversity, age, creed, ancestry, race, education, gender, sex, physical or intellectual disability, sexuality, political beliefs, geography, or other ‘markers’.

You can be marginalised and still have relative privilege, like me. I am a South Indian woman. At work, I was marginalised by being paid less, harassed, and threatened by bullies. I have been denied jobs – including consulting work – because no one wants to sponsor immigrants for a work visa. 

But I have class and caste privilege. I’m Brahmin from South India. While I may not personally be holding anyone back, I benefit from the caste system in India. It keeps a woman exactly the same as me, but who happens to be born to another family in another part of the country, from choosing her life. 

I work to tackle that imbalance and that injustice. It’s not fair for only certain voices to be better represented in our sector than others – to get more funding, visibility, whatever.​ This selectivity has had certain consequences for my business. But it ensures that my work aligns with my purpose and values.