Ethos & Equitable Sustainable Impact

PSYDEH links our unique human-centered, values-based leader disciplines to achieving ethical and equitable, sustainable impact at the local, national and global levels. In Mexico, we pioneer a model for community-led development. Globally, we collaborate with global platforms like USA-based GlobalGiving (GG), the world’s leading crowdfunding platform for nonprofits, and companies to do the same. 

2020 Ethos launch

On April 28, 2021, PSYDEH was chosen as the only nonprofit from USA-based crowdfunding platform GlobalGiving’s (GG) worldwide network of 6000 organizations to serve on an expert panel for the official launch of Ethos, GG’s “philosophy and how-to guide designed to help leaders explore, act on, manage, and learn from dilemmas“.

Here, PSYDEH’s Mahathi Kumar shared our experience using “Ethos lite” to navigate a recent dilemma involving business ethics and cultural and brand appropriation. This case study, titled “Indigenous Communities, Companies and Cultural Appropriation” speaks to the same dilemma with more detail. 

As Damon Taylor, PSYDEH’s senior advisor, says, Ethos’ human-centered approach is extremely valuable for leaders and their staff to making considerate decisions:

“We defend Mexican and Indigenous rights and voices and Mexico’s cultural treasures—on behalf of our staff, women-partners and their communities, and the Mexican government. We resist cancel culture. We believe in a healing approach that is informed by Ethos inviting actors to be intentional and thoughtful.”

A years-long journey

Ethos is the outcome of an 18-month initiative launched in October 2019 in Washington, DC, USA. There and then, PSYDEH was one of only four nonprofits and the only one from the Americas invited to join 20 other leaders from the philanthropy sector to explore what GG calls the “Neutrality Paradox”, a multi-year project financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, to help global and national platforms navigate complicated questions of fair access.

We have since engaged the initiative at various additional stages, always with the aim to give voice from the global south perspective on how to achieve ethical, equitable sustainable impact. To learn more, read about our participation in this mid-2020 design sprint, or see this article, titled “Managing Neutrality Paradox Dilemmas by Confronting Their Sources”, authored by Mahathi Kumar, on the need for and ways in which philanthropic platforms can support their nonprofit partners, specifically in the global south, to prevent nonprofits from becoming involved in dilemmas in the context of the Neutrality Paradox.

Challenge = experience = opportunity

Using what we have learned from these experiences, PSYDEH now develops a market-facing consulting service for companies and other nonprofits that find themselves in similar dilemmas. We hope to begin offering this service in mid-summer 2021 as part of our unique-for-our-size income stream diversification strategy. Any inquiries on our work with GlobalGiving Ethos or forthcoming service, please contact Mahathi Kumar ([email protected]).