Finding individuals who are open to your work can be very helpful for building a broad coalition and advancing a social change agenda, especially when those individuals are involved with or connected to the system that an organization seeks to transform. For example, in the Israeli context, the Jewish-Palestinian organization Sadaka Reut works in the educational sphere and must find individuals within the educational system who are open to its approach in order to recruit participants to its programs. To do this, Sadaka Reut is flexible when approaching individuals in the educational system (teachers and/or administrators), particularly in terms of the language staff use to market or present their programs. 

One staff member noted the importance of doing this when working with groups that are more “mainstream” than Sadaka Reut: “it’s not a matter of saying things that are inaccurate, it’s a matter of presenting our work in a different way” [than it might be presented to groups that are more ideologically aligned with Sadaka Reut]. What this suggests is that to partner with individuals and organizations with mainstream perspectives, it will be important to find a shared basis for cooperation even if the ideals of the organizations do not align completely. Another way of building coalitions is to engage in multiple kinds of events, which may appeal to different audiences. A Black Lives Matter activist in the Southwestern United States, for example, discusses the group’s engagement in protest activities, but also events specifically for the black trans community and for black couples, or a vigil organized for victims of a mass shooting that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. 

Engagement can lead to greater dissemination of ideas and a shifting of attitudes toward perceived “radical” positions. Annie Campbell, a feminist activist from Northern Ireland, makes this point in relation to bringing in women of varying degrees of support for the cause. She shares, 

Most of the other women...They're not pro women. Do you know what I mean? They've ….never really come out as full-on feminists, you don't….. hear them speaking the basic language of feminism talking about the patriarchy or oppression. [...]

For those that want to partner with individuals or groups with loose ties or parallel values, a non-confrontational approach can also be effective for making new allies who before may have been neutral or even passively opposed to your cause. Similarly, this can help to boost numbers and open up access to resources. Building relationships with passively opposed or neutral groups is also a matter of building trust. In Israel, activists with Palestinian women’s organizations such as the Lakiya Weaving Project of the Sidreh Foundation note that building trust with men in their communities is crucial for obtaining support for their goals. By encouraging partnerships with entities that may otherwise be opposed to the cause, it is more likely that support will grow and allow for broader systemic impact.

Challenges you may encounter using this tool

• Although allies can strengthen and support a social change by bolstering numbers and building wider support for the aims of a movement, it can be challenging to overcome differences in perspective. Allies may have fundamental differences of opinion, lived experiences, and tactics from leaders, which must be addressed directly for the partnership to be fruitful.

• When allies are a part of the dominant class or system of oppression, it may be necessary to establish boundaries for their involvement - such as guidelines to ensure leaders’ voices are centered and continue to guide decision-making - and spaces to deal with feelings of guilt or defensiveness to avoid detracting from the mission - best exemplified by strategies to overcome ‘white fragility’ in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US.

• Not all professed allies may be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to truly advance, versus give lip service to, the social change agenda. Leadership should have a plan in place for how or whether they will engage with allies who are not willing to fully invest in the cause.