Compassion at the Heart of Systems Change
- Signe Sorensen
- Jan 15
- 4 min read
Relationships lie at the heart of systems change. If we are genuinely committed to transforming systems, we also bear the responsibility to ensure that we’re not replicating the very harms we’re trying to undo.
— Sarah Bradley
This conversation is part of the YCompassion Leadership Programme Reflective Series, featuring reflections from programme participants and peers on practicing compassionate, human-centred leadership in the social impact sector.
What drew you to explore compassion practices?
For most of my career, I’ve worked in environments where actions did not align with the language of care. I’ve witnessed, experienced, and been complicit in deep harm within places I trusted to be principled and supportive.
In work where the stakes are high and the challenges are systemic, I’ve seen how urgency and focus on outcomes often set aside the real work of reflection and change.
My own healing process over the past few years has been facilitated by people who extended compassion to me.
This motivated me to engage more fully with compassion practices, aiming to be more intentional in creating conditions where integrity, connection, and genuine resolution can thrive, even (and especially) in these more difficult moments.
What compassionate tool do you wish more people knew about and used?
The simple act of pausing and listening with full attention - without rushing to respond or fix - sounds deceptively simple, but is incredibly hard in practice.
I’ve seen how this small change can completely alter the dynamic and reveal things that would otherwise stay buried or go unspoken.
Is there a moment when a compassionate response made a tangible difference within your work?
Recently, I reached a point with my colleague where I had to be honest about feeling overwhelmed in our dynamic and express some needs that felt particularly vulnerable. Instead of rushing to defend or dismiss it, she slowed down, acknowledged what I was saying, and asked what I needed.
She also shared her own perspective on the situation, which helped me see things from a different angle and prompted me to question some of my own assumptions. That moment alone shifted the energy towards a deeper trust and a stronger foundation for working through these more difficult moments together.
From your perspective, why is compassion vital for the future of our sector?
Relationships lie at the heart of systems change. If we are genuinely committed to transforming systems, we also bear the responsibility to ensure that we’re not replicating the very harms we’re trying to undo.
Performance culture can easily lead us into patterns that undermine trust and perpetuate unhealthy dynamics.
Compassion gives us the capacity to navigate disagreements and uncertainty, and to set boundaries confidently while maintaining each other’s humanity.
It involves engaging in difficult conversations and challenging ourselves in ways that ultimately open up the possibility for better alternatives to unfold.
What resources would you recommend to a friend or colleague who is interested in compassionate approaches?
The first two that immediately come to mind (and that I highly recommend) are:
Sustainable Wellbeing Environment Network (SWEN) - This is an incredible and beautifully facilitated network for those working across the environmental, climate, and social justice sectors, providing a space for reflection, connection, and in-depth exploration of more sustainable ways of working.
AORTA Cooperative - This worker-owned collective offers thoughtful tools and trainings on equity, facilitation, and group dynamics.
Both are beautiful examples of spaces and resources that weave together theory and practice, which are especially valuable for people seeking to bring compassion into real, everyday work – even in organisational cultures that don’t embrace these approaches.
In addition to the YCompassion Leadership Programme resources, I’m currently drawing inspiration from several books, including Slow Productivity, White Supremacy and Me, and Active Hope. I’d also recommend following @TheNapMinistry and @somewhere_in_june on Instagram.
What ideas are you interested in exploring that bring compassionate ways of working into practice?
I’m interested in how compassion can start to become embedded into the underlying structures and rhythms of "mainstream" work - not just as an individual trait or “soft skill,” but as a foundational expectation.
As an autistic person, I am acutely aware of how dominant working cultures can exclude individuals and suppress space for clarity, reflection, and trust. This might involve rethinking the pace or organisation of decision-making to accommodate various processing styles or recognising and valuing different types of labour that are rarely visible. I’m trying to own this part of my identity more openly and have found that when I do take the leap to put it on the table, it creates room for others to do the same.
About Sarah
Sarah is an independent consultant working at the intersections of fundraising, philanthropy and climate justice. She is the co-founder of ReImagine Change, an emerging support space that partners with movements and philanthropic actors to reimagine funding practices and build more equitable resourcing pathways. Sarah also works with Better Way Foundation, where she supports their feminist-led grassroots grantmaking and serves in coordinating the European AgriFood Co-Funding Alliance, a collaborative initiative to advance just food systems across Europe.
She was in the first cohort of the YCompassion Leadership Programme.
This conversation reflects Sarah's personal views and not those of any organisation she has worked for or currently works for.
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