Working with visibility at a systems level
Organisations and institutions are constantly shaping who is heard, whose knowledge counts, and how decisions are made.
Often this happens unintentionally - through inherited structures, unexamined norms, or ways of working that privilege some voices while sidelining others.
Our work supports organisations to step back and examine these patterns.
Using visibility as a lens, we help make sense of how voice, power, and participation are operating - in your organsiation or in society at large - and where they are breaking down.
What visibility analysis looks like in practice
At a systems level, visibility is about more than your communication strategy.
It's about understanding:
- Who is visible in decision-making, and who is not
- Whose knowledge is treated as credible or authoritative
- Where participation is invited, constrained, or symbolic
- How history, culture, and institutional design shape engagement, and
- What conditions are required for people to genuinely influence outcomes.
This kind of analysis helps organisations understand not just what isn’t working, but why.
How we work with organisations
We partner with organisations, institutions, and networks that are interested in understanding how their systems operate.
Our work commonly includes: visibility and participation analysis, policy and program design support, advisory work on inclusion, voice, and decision-making, research, consultation, synthesis, and report writing, and facilitation of reflective and strategic conversations.
This work is often embedded - carried out in close collaboration with teams, leaders, and communities - rather than delivered as a standalone product.
Partnerships and applied work
We currently work in partnership with organisations operating across community development, policy, and institutional reform.
This includes long-term partnerships such as our work with Just Peoples, supporting community-led approaches to visibility, voice, and participation in international development contexts.
It also includes policy and advisory work with organisations such as Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, where visibility analysis informs research, consultation, and policy design in Indigenous affairs and social justice contexts.
In each case, the work is shaped by context, not imposed as a generic framework.
Engaging us as contractors or advisors
We are available to be engaged as contractors for visibility-focused analysis and advisory work.
This may suit organisations who are:
- reviewing decision-making processes
- undertaking community consultation or engagement
- designing policy or institutional reform
- seeking to understand participation gaps or silencing dynamics, or
- working in complex or politically sensitive environments.
We bring a trauma-informed, culturally aware, and systems-literate approach to this work, with experience across community, government, and institutional settings.
We work best with organisations who understand that:
- visibility is not neutral
- voice is shaped by structure, not just intention
- and meaningful participation requires more than an invitation.
This is careful, considered work.
It is not about quick fixes or surface-level inclusion. It's about creating conditions where people can genuinely be seen, heard, and involved in shaping what matters.
"Samantha's thoughts on the worldwide problem of women and their oppression/lack of power/permission to be visible attracted me to this work. She is honest, spot-on, and without gimmicks. That’s so refreshing."
SHALAGH, MARYLAND, USA
Working together
If you’re interested in exploring whether this work is a fit for your organisation, partnership, or project, we invite you to get in touch via our contact page.
We’re happy to begin with a conversation.
Get Started
