Our approach
Transformative change is an approach, not an agenda.
Our approach is to grow understanding, grow capacity and grow movements.
We empower those curious about the future of our justice systems to create shared wisdom and work together to build tomorrow’s justice systems today.
However we are involved in, or impacted by, our justice systems, we need opportunities to step back, reflect on our assumptions and take a fresh look at the roles we play within these ecosystems.
Rather than campaigning for specific policy changes, we offer transformative spaces and activities that give rise to creative ideas and insights, offering new possibilities for our justice systems.
By building people’s confidence, capacity and connections, we provide positive pathways toward those new possibilities through generating and testing ideas for change.
We empower changemakers, communities and citizens to connect and collaborate, building shared wisdom and working together to create justice systems of the future.
The first step to changing complex systems is to visualise them and see your place within the bigger picture.
We provide spaces and opportunities for you to dig deeper into systemic issues and explore diverse perspectives.
We use transformative practices to map systems, illustrate hidden blockers to progress and illuminate potential levers for change.
Seeing the bigger picture allows us to step back and think differently about complex issues and how to achieve transformative change locally, nationally and globally.
We grow empathy and understanding by fostering collaboration, exploring different viewpoints and elevating often unheard voices.
We enable and encourage you to imagine future possibilities and discover new ways to influence, shift and transform systems.
The final step to changing complex systems is having the capacity, confidence and connections to do things differently.
We support you to form wider movements and take actions to cultivate the conditions for positive, sustainable changes.
We help measure and evaluate the transformative, ongoing impacts of those actions so you can learn, adapt and evolve your approaches.
Equity Statement
At Justice Futures, we are committed to the principles of transformative equity, diversity and inclusion. We understand that the systems we are trying to change, namely the criminal, civil and social justice systems, perpetuate institutional, systemic and deep-rooted discrimination, disparities and power imbalances that frame and shape our responses to crime and justice. We believe that diversity enriches our perspectives, rightly disrupts the status quo, and drives innovation.
We collaborate with partners and associates who bring diverse lived, learned and/or professional experiences and expertise to our work. We believe that transformative equity and inclusion involves not just acknowledging differences, but actively working to tackle systemic inequalities and dismantling the barriers that prevent full participation and representation.
We are conscious of our own privilege and power and recognise that our experiences have shaped our understanding of justice systems and that others’ experiences shape theirs. We seek ways to steward our privilege and power to create a more equitable landscape, and reveal and interrupt systemic harms related to othering and lack of inclusion. This will include creating progression routes and opportunities for people with lived experience of justice systems through our associate model, which we will grow as we grow.
We are dedicated to fostering environments where everyone feels valued and heard, and where diverse views and perspectives are not only included and embraced, but are integral to our work. We aim to curate safe and empowering spaces and learning communities where everyone can meaningfully contribute and thrive.
This means being open to and making ourselves available for different experiences, especially challenge; being conscious of our mindsets, processes, behaviours and culture; listening across power, identity and other forms of difference, bringing consciousness to the inequitable patterns that systems are reproducing; and, ensuring our work focuses on both tackling the root causes and the symptoms.
We invite those we work with to both care for their own needs and to treat other people with care; to trust themselves and their senses; to share only their own experiences and not to assume those of others; to understand there are multiple truths and that we all have blind spots; to be conscious of making space for others; to notice and name harms and be comfortable with the fact that surfacing and discussing inequity can feel uncomfortable, but that this discomfort within difficult conversations can be an opportunity for us to learn, gain wisdom and grow.
Our commitment to transformative equity means we continuously learn, listen and evolve to ensure our actions reflect our values. We seek feedback and suggestions on how we might improve from those we work with. We regularly reflect to assess our progress and make plans to improve going forward.
Our journey towards equity is ongoing, and we are dedicated to being transparent and accountable in our efforts. We invite you to join us in this mission as we work together to create more equitable and inclusive justice systems.