What does it take to create lasting change?Learning from practice, experience and community knowledge

ADOLESCENT WELLBEING CIC

Email: awteam@aw-cic.org

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BRIG’s vision is to help Birmingham become a world-leading anti-racist city by 2035. Achieving that ambition will require more than good intentions or short-term initiatives. It calls for lasting change that is sustained by people, communities and institutions working differently together.

But what does it take to create lasting change?

There is no shortage of books, research and leadership theories that attempt to answer that question. They have a lot to teach us. Yet some of the most valuable insights come from people who are already creating change within their own communities.

This new BRIG series begins with conversations with Black women from across Birmingham whose work spans health, education, research, community organising and public life. Black women have long played a significant role in creating change within their families, communities and wider society. Yet the knowledge developed through that work has not always shaped wider conversations about what it takes to create meaningful change. Our aim is not simply to share their stories, but to rethink where we look for knowledge about change.

Part of BRIG’s role is to create space for different forms of knowledge to inform decision-making, influence policy and shape priorities. Knowledge developed through “lived experience” and everyday practice continues to be dismissed as subjective or anecdotal. This series is an invitation to take that knowledge seriously and explore what we can learn about how lasting change happens.

Our first conversation is with Sabrina Fullerton, a CAMHS nurse, Data & Tech community researcher and founder of Adolescence Wellbeing CIC. Through her work with children, young people and communities, Sabrina spends much of her time supporting people to navigate life’s complexity, build resilience and thrive.

One idea surfaced repeatedly throughout our conversation: understanding. 

This may sound obvious. But it suggests that creating lasting change is not simply about what we do, but about how well we understand the people, situations and systems we are trying to change.

In many organisations and institutions, the pressure is often to move quickly from problem to solution. To act, respond, and show that something is being done. We tend to value action over understanding. Being busy is sometimes taken as a sign that we are making progress, even when all that activity is doing little to change the things that matter.

For Sabrina, understanding begins with listening. Not listening as a polite act, but as a way of finding out what is really going on.

This matters because change is not created by intention alone. It is shaped by the quality of the decisions people make, the relationships they build, and the assumptions they are willing to question. If we misunderstand the situation, we risk acting on the wrong problem. If we listen only to confirm what we already think, we are unlikely to challenge our assumptions or open ourselves to new ideas, new possibilities and new ways forward.

In Sabrina's work, listening is closely connected to prevention. She spoke about young people reaching crisis point and the consistent message she often hears: "Nobody was listening." She talked about psychology as a life skill, something young people should not have to wait until adulthood to learn. She also spoke about creating spaces where children and young people can better understand themselves, express what they need, and know when to reach out for support.

Listening, in this sense, is not an end in itself. It is how understanding develops. Better understanding leads to better judgement, better decisions and, ultimately, more meaningful change. It helps us recognise what people are experiencing before those experiences become crisis, surface knowledge that might otherwise remain hidden, and avoid the temptation to assume we already know what is needed.

Looking back on our conversation, one insight stands out. Lasting change is not simply the product of better strategies or more activity. It is shaped by the quality of our understanding, our judgement and the relationships we build with others.

Sabrina’s experience does not provide a blueprint. That is not what this series is seeking to do. It offers something different: an opportunity to look closely at the practices through which change is already being created, often quietly, in communities, services and everyday relationships.

If Birmingham is serious about becoming a world-leading anti-racist city by 2035, then all of us – leaders, institutions, communities and partnerships – have something to learn about how lasting change happens.  Sabrina's community approach and collaborations offer one place to begin in our city.”