Reflections from Propel Network Day
Last month, we brought together 70 Propel funders and funded partners for our annual networking day. Geraldine Blake, Director of Collaboration and Development at London Funders, looks back at what we shared and learned from the day
Alongside the series of learning events we’ve held throughout the Propel programme so far, this was the second time we’ve held a collective networking event for organisations both delivering and funding work to create long-term, systemic change in London.
There were three things we wanted to get out of a day like this. Firstly, to share more about the work that’s being done – none of us are working in isolation and the chance to make links and build relationships with others is so crucial for collaboration. Secondly, to build confidence for both funders and funded organisations in how we are working systemically: what are we learning so far about the work we’re doing, both in funding change and to change funding. And lastly, this was also an opportunity for us to begin the process of designing a long-term grant offer, which is high on our minds as the current grants start to end from April 2026.
To help us do this, we reflected on systemic change and some of the different ways already out there to describe and approach it. As a partnership, we’ve steered away from prescribing systems change too rigidly – as we believe communities should define it in a way that means something to them and the issues they’re facing. But at the same time, existing frameworks offer helpful ways to make sense of what can feel like a slippery and messy concept, and some of the feedback from earlier sessions told us how valuable it is for us all to explore how we’re approaching systemic change together.
We heard from Equity Partner Viv from Women’s Resource Centre about Patricia Hill Collins’ Four Domains of Power as a framework for systemic change. This framework breaks power into the Interpersonal, Community, Organisational and Structural domains. It places emphasis on recognising that systemic challenges are deeply rooted in power imbalances, and so empowering marginalised voices and shifting dominant perspectives are crucial steps toward meaningful change.
Louise, London Funders Collaborations Manager, also introduced the Berkana Two Loops model as another framework to help make sense of systemic change. The Two Loops Theory was introduced as a map for understanding how systemic change unfolds. It explains the lifecycle of systems: as dominant systems peak and decline, emergent systems begin to rise. Importantly, the old and new systems often coexist for a period, learning from each other during this transition.
Funded partners reflected on their own role as agents in this change, as well as how funders can best facilitate it through what and how they fund (something we’ve been exploring in London Funders’ learning programme over the past few months). Funders may lack lived experience but hold financial power, which significantly influences the direction of change. For instance, many causes—especially those related to improving women’s lives—remain underfunded, even though they are critical. Funded partners reaffirmed how essential long-term funding is for stability and planning, particularly for crisis-prone organisations. Partners also talked about the need for radical forums for debate and capacity-building to help them address systemic issues.
In the afternoon we heard from Learning Partner IVAR who have been engaging in conversations recently with funders and equity partners to explore how far there is alignment between funders’ practices and organisational needs. As part of this, IVAR have asked funders to reflect on the principles behind Propel and where they are starting to see changes in their own practice and that of their organisations.
“Systemic change can feel messy and difficult, but there was an incredible sense of optimism throughout the day: one attendee described this as ‘a multitude of ripples’ being created by the work Propel partners are doing”
IVAR talked about how Propel has catalysed changes in funding systems because funders now better understand some of the practical challenges, funding restrictions, and the unique needs of equity-led groups. Flexibility is a key principle for Propel, and we heard how Propel has successfully embraced more flexible funding models. At the same time, flexibility means different things to different funders – they still have their own cultures, accountability structures and internal processes, and at times there has been some inconsistency in reconciling flexibility with these structures in a way which feels meaningful.
Towards the end of the day we discussed the next phase of Propel and the development of the long term offer, which would potentially offer grants over a 7-year period. While it’s expected that these long-term funding relationships will initially focus on existing funded organizations, Propel is also investigating non-financial support options, such as expertise and advocacy, to complement financial grants. Funded partners shared a range of things they’d find useful – from practical help like venues, and pro bono support, to helping with connections, tapping into funders’ convening power and the type of behaviours they’d like to see from funders – like ‘being allowed to try and fail’, and ‘being willing to ask big questions about power’. All of this underlines that stronger relationships are about much more than the funding alone.
Amidst all of these discussions was the opportunity for funders and funded partners to make connections, share some of the challenges they’re seeing show up in their work, and also help shape the way we’re thinking about this next phase. Systemic change can feel messy and difficult, but there was an incredible sense of optimism throughout the day: one attendee described this as ‘a multitude of ripples’ being created by the work Propel partners are doing: we might be working in systems that feel local, unique to our local community and part of a much bigger global ‘system’, but imagining the cumulative impact of these ripples helps give a sense of the change being created.
Over the next few months we’ll be sharing our first Impact Report which will detail more of the learning from the first 18 months of Propel, and we’ll be continuing to co-design the next phase as we head toward the long term grants. We can’t wait to work with all the Propel partners to build on the incredible amount of learning we’ve created together so far.
You can find the slides we shared during the day here. We have also written a more detailed summary of the discussions that funders and funded organisations had on developing the long-term grant offer, available to read here.
