Engage for Change - Celebrating & Cultivating Community

Celebrating and Cultivating Community

We are a community development consultancy service.

We work alongside communities to realise aspirations, access and experience human rights, find solutions to challenges, build resilience and celebrate strengths.

We do this by finding accessible, creative paths which engage whole communities in shaping decisions and creating positive change.

What We Do

Specialising in community engagement, we deliver a range of services which support community development. We bring a wealth of experience engaging communities in strategic and social planning, co-research, capacity-strengthening, co-design of community services and spaces, and participatory program evaluation.

We guide organisations to better reach out, build relationships and engage meaningfully with the communities they serve.

We strengthen small and emerging community organisations to drive positive and transformational change from the grassroots up.

We are passionate about embracing and working alongside communities who are rich in cultural, social and geographic diversity.

Our ability to connect, build trusted relationships and bring people together is our greatest strength.

How We Work

Shaped by people and place

We work collaboratively with local communities to realise their aspirations and use local knowledge to find solutions to problems.

Going the extra mile to hear every voice

We won’t just bring the usual suspects to the table. We go the extra mile to make sure that people who are often left out of the decision-making are reached, included and supported to participate. We also try to ensure a 360 perspective on an issue.

Valuing lived experience

We recognise that participation is the path to people’s rights being realised. We actively seek to reach out, remove barriers and enable individuals and communities’ lived experience to be valued and taken into account in decision-making on things which affect them.

Gathering communities together

We are especially good at bringing a cross-section of stakeholders together to collaboratively develop and deliver community development projects.

Focused on strengths

We always search for the strengths of the communities we work with to grow practical, sustainable, and self-determined solutions. We are highly sensitive and careful in how we work, bringing experience in trauma-informed approaches and cross-cultural awareness.

Evidence-informed

We seek to build a strong evidence base using a range of data, research and engagement findings. We draw on good practice examples operating in other communities or agencies.

Strategic thinkers, grassroots operators

We balance big vision and strategic planning, with practical, short-term steps to help get communities there.

No box-ticking

We have no tolerance for tokenistic engagement and predetermined outcomes. We will only work where there is genuine scope for participation to influence decisions.

Delivering high quality results

We are a highly skilled, organised and pragmatic team. We love what we do. We have a strong track record of delivering exceptional community development projects which don’t cut corners on good practice. We ask, we listen, we think, we collaborate and we get things done.

Creativity

We are always looking to find methods of engagement which are accessible, inclusive. We recognise people’s intrinsic value, strengths, experience and dignity. We have a vast and growing toolkit of creative methods, tools and resources to support communities to participate in meaningful ways.

Building relationships

Listening deeply and building authentic relationships is at the heart of how we work. The people that we work with and for are active in the process we undertake. The process must not only ‘do no harm’ but positively benefit those involved, and doesn’t just stop when a project is completed.

What our clients and collaborators say

Engage for Change helped us develop our first comprehensive strategic plan. I was particularly impressed with the consultants' insights into our sector and the strategic planning process. The consultants conducted extensive research and interviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of our organization. While the COVID lockdown was in place, they provided alternative solutions and were able to deliver as promised. Due to this, the planning process was smooth and efficient.Engage for Change not only assisted us in developing our strategic plan, but also guided us through creating a realistic action plan. As a result of this whole process, we continue to reap the benefits.I highly recommend Engaged for Change. This company is one of the best in its sector!

Dr Thaera O’Brien. Chair, Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services

Engage for Change enabled us to achieve our project outcomes under severely strict timelines and the work produced was of the highest standard.

Marouf Hafda. Project Manager, Bankstown Communities for Children Facilitating Partner

We contracted Engage for Change to guide our community consultation and community strategic planning process in 2021-2022. I cannot recommend Merryn highly enough. We were working under unusually tight deadlines due to months of COVID-19 induced delay, on top of having brand new staff. None of us had taken on a project like this before, so knowledgeable guidance and assistance was urgently needed.... Once our collaborative work began with Merryn, we found her - in the midst of a huge, tight deadline project - to be calm, clear headed, creative, organised, flexible and adaptable. And with a good sense of humour, as well! Merryn provided us with much needed practical as well as emotional support, as well as constructive feedback when needed. Merryn comes highly recommended! You won't be disappointed.

Jackie Davies. The Smith Family - Communities for Children Bankstown