Client: Coralus (Formerly SheEO)
Research Question: Is there alignment between SheEO community values and its actual practices? How can we bring them into better alignment?
This ethnographic report is the summation of an eight-week-long ethnography study (July 23-September 15, 2021). It was conducted by myself and another ethnographer, Puja Prakash, from OCAD U’s Master of Design, Strategic Foresight and Innovation, program.
The goal of this project was to document and identify themes and possible areas of opportunity for SheEO. This project consists of an overview of themes, a values map, recommendations, and reflections.
We conducted both participatory and observatory ethnography, sitting in a variety of organizational activities. We employed systemic design frameworks, the Elito method, and continuous analysis to identify emergent insights.
Based on the organization’s values and emergent themes, we focused on storytelling and relationship-building opportunities. We developed two overarching recommendations 1) engaging with the external community and 2) enhancing the diverse internal communities. These recommendations influenced the progression of their community engagement activities.
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Below is an overview of the ten key themes we identified. The most resonant theme was the internal-external tension I observed amongst the community and stakeholders. This theme is further explained in the following image.
The Values Map below shows how SheEO’s structures, practices and culture reflect its core values. It shows the context of the internal (SheEO) system in contrast to the external (out edge) environment.
The Values Map is inspired by the Systemic Design Toolkit’s Rich Context Map. The Systemic Design Toolkit was created by Namahn and shiftN, then further elaborated on by Peter Jones (Systemic Design Association) and Alex Ryan (MaRS Discovery District).
