so government works for people

If we want to make lasting change
at scale on

inequality

justice

health

education

climate

or any major social issue

we need governments to work effectively for all people and treat them with dignity

Governments have the mandate, staff and resources to serve millions, and to make change last over time

Too often, with so many obstacles and constraints, they are unable to do so.

But there are leaders

in government

and civil society
who are trying to do things differently

TO CENTER ON PEOPLE & PURPOSE

TO INNOVATE

TO
COLLABORATE

TO LISTEN

TO DELIVER

Making change happen

These leaders could do so much more if they had support that is:

trusted

strategic

politically savvy

empathetic

informed by evidence

contextually rooted

thoughtful

And if only they had
the quiet time
to focus on deep work.

JustSystems has one goal:

To strengthen the supportive infrastructure for leaders in government and civil society to make public systems more effective (at delivering outcomes), inclusive (in who benefits and decides) and dignity affirming (how people experience and engage with government), at scale.

By doing so, we can contribute to rebuilding trust and accountability between people and government.

HOW?

Between August 2023 and mid-2024, we have been listening to and learning from practitioners, changemakers, researchers, funders on

1) What has worked and is needed

to make public systems more inclusive, effective, and dignity affirming

2) How leaders can strengthen their capabilities and coalitions

to rebuild the social compact between government and people for deep and lasting change

What did we learn?

Read our working draft note on what we are learning

We welcome your ideas and feedback

info@justsystems.org

What would make a difference?

Working with a wonderful set of partners and advisors from across the world, we have identified and developed three sets of actions that we believe could make a powerful and outsized difference.

Our country-level work will be built around three pillars:

1. Strategic accompaniment to leaders in government and civil society

Working with our anchor partners, we will identify and recruit experienced people to provide long-term strategic accompaniment to leaders in government and civil society. The support includes helping leaders navigate the political economy of a system – understand barriers, manage risks and trade-offs; build winning coalitions; widen the pool of leaders, motivation and ownership; and make judgments about when to stay the course, adapt and pivot, or abandon an idea. The idea is to help leaders cut out the noise of long to-do lists, step back and be contemplative, determine and prioritize what’s core, and lead the entire organization and its people to focus on what matters most.

2. Building bridges/convening across difference for shared purpose

We will support anchor partners to convene thoughtful and creative processes where unusual actors (government and civil society, young and old, feminists and establishment elites) come together to step back from the fray, connect as human beings, craft a sense of shared purpose, and build momentum for action, usually around a specific objective.Here we are looking to strengthen two related capabilities,

convenors with foresight to see what is possible, and sufficient standing to convene a diversity of actors to pay attention to a specific issue
skilled facilitators who can help different actors come to a consensus on a shared goal and how to move forward on it, and do so in a manner that builds better understanding and relationships across difference that will be essential to sustain change over time.

With these two pillars, leaders can reinvigorate existing resources – the hundreds of thousands of people and billions of dollars that many systems have – to be better focused, more motivated, and achieve far more meaningful impact for people.

3. Reimagining the people-government compact

Building on the two capabilities outlined above, through concrete examples and case studies as well as conceptual reframing, we will seek to demonstrate and document how government can be different in how it views and engages with people, and vice versa. We will work with others to contribute to a narrative of a government that listens and works with people and of civic engagement where people appreciate the central role of government in advancing collective wellbeing and have the confidence to engage with it. This includes intellectual work involving academic and influential journals, engagement with popular media, and case studies based on actual work. This is a slow, long term endeavour that will take 30+ years

Our collective and global level work will:

foster a community of learning and exchange across countries;
identify, document and share lessons for improved practice;
influence philanthropic and development thinking and practice; and
contribute to building a practical global knowledge base on how to make public systems more just i.e. more effective, inclusive and dignity affirming

Read about the core idea of what we are building