Ellie Demetri

Ellie Demetri

MSc Environment Politics & Development. Currently working for SEMBLE, supporting community groups to thrive. Believer in the power of creativity to bring about positive change in the world.

Location London

Activity

  • Hello I work with a local community project that supports vulnerable and isolated families. I am here to learn how I can support them, myself and my colleagues and friends better.

  • Thank you for the opportunity to study this course alongside the community work I am doing, it has given me an opportunity to reflect using great tools as well as stepping outside the work I am doing to observe and notice the other great change makers out there!!!

  • The comment on vicarious trauma in the previous video resonated with me. I think particularly if you are an empath, this can be challenging. In one sense you want to know and understand every detail of an individual's disadvantage, however you are aware this is going to be distressing and may impact your energy levels, your mood or your capacity to work. I...

  • Ellie Demetri made a comment

    My project is ongoing, and so far it has been full of learnings. The biggest one for me is the constant testing of my own assumptions in order to allow the project to be truly participatory and shaped by those in the community that are affected. While is good to have personal networks that can help support the campaign, it is easy to go to them first, instead...

  • Really useful resource, thank you for sharing

  • Week 6 took me the longest to complete because I was so engulfed in the history of campaigning with the abolitionists. Great week!

  • Whether being influenced or influencing others the key elements in my experiences have been:
    *information -usually story-telling
    *listening -understanding them or me, creates a level playing field
    *space -a safe and considerate space to make that decision, without feeling forced

  • I believe I have strength in my open-ness, my empathy and I practice deep listening which I believe is so important when working in any community - an ability to 100% listen to others, fully support them without necessarily thinking of yourself or how it immediately relates to you. While I claim to be understanding of uncertainties or the potential for...

  • Self-awareness and an understanding of your identity, be that privilege or disadvantage reveals the importance of collective action. By bringing together the experiences, knowledge and resources of individuals from different areas there is not only a better chance of making individual, collective and systemic change, but also a more authentic (or true to the...

  • Ellie Demetri made a comment

    When I think of power, I understand it as relational, something that depends on the disempowerment of some and that changes across time and space. We often talk about “empowerment”, without really dissecting what this means. Kabeer says disempowerment is an inability to make choices, or to be denied choices due to particular constraints. Therefore to be...

  • Thank you @MalinDaviknes

  • Your issue: Digital Exclusion
    Type of change: Digital inclusion for all in the UK, including sufficient internet access, device ownership and computer literacy (including safeguarding)

    Policy or practice change at the institutional or government level
    *Government policies that provide free internet and devices. Removing data caps and redistributing old...

  • I want to see digital inclusion across the UK, not just internet access, but enough devices for the family and adequate computer literacy, software and safeguarding. There is also a wider context of inviting and including those from vulnerable and marginalised communities to participate and mould the many technological innovations emerging.

    In our...

  • It is very challenging to say one thing, however I think there is some deeper work on how we can re-frame change moving forward. In that sense, I’d bring a behavioural change (to all!) that does not centre inequality on the individual, but appreciates the interconnectedness of often siloed oppressions (racial, gendered etc.), this can then create more space...

  • I am involved in change-making both in my professional career and voluntary work. From a global campaign focused advocating for children's outdoor learning (this has been adapted during current circumstances), to local community funds and projects focused on reducing social isolation, and most recently and relevantly digital exclusion of vulnerable families -...

  • Ellie Demetri made a comment

    Thank you for the intro, really excited to get started!