Changemaker Q&A

Changemaker Q&A is a podcast for grassroots changemakers—activists, students, volunteers, social workers, entrepreneurs, sustainability advocates, and anyone working to make a difference. In each episode, host Dr. Tiyana J answers real questions from the community or interviews inspiring guests who share their stories, lessons, and practical strategies for creating social and environmental impact. With a mix of honesty, warmth, and actionable insights, the show equips listeners with the tools and encouragement they need to keep moving forward on their changemaking journey.

From Vision Boards to Strategy: Planning for the New Year

As people enter a new year, vision boards and goal-setting rituals often become a focal point of personal and professional planning. Images representing success, stability, or impact can feel energising, offering a sense of direction at a time when many are seeking clarity. While these practices can be valuable, they are frequently misunderstood. Vision alone […]

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Safety as Practice: What Di’s Story Reveals About Confidence, Boundaries, and Women’s Leadership

Safety is often discussed as though it is a checklist. Lock your doors. Don’t walk alone at night. Keep your keys between your fingers. Share your location. These fragments of advice circulate constantly, especially among women, yet they rarely add up to something coherent. They can even become exhausting—an endless set of personal precautions that

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Five Predictions for 2026: Power, Polarisation, and the Shape of Change Ahead

As 2026 begins, many people are entering the new year with a mixture of exhaustion and cautious hope. After years marked by economic pressure, political volatility, and overlapping global crises, optimism feels less like enthusiasm and more like necessity. Something, many sense, has to change. It is within this context that Changemaker Q&A host Tiyana

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From One Conversation to a Shelter: What Sean’s Story Reveals About Homelessness, Systems, and What Actually Works

Homelessness is often spoken about as though it is a moral failure, a personal choice, or an inevitable by-product of “bad decisions”. Yet the evidence from homelessness research, public health, and lived experience consistently points elsewhere: homelessness is produced by systems that compound vulnerability, and once someone is excluded from housing, reintegration becomes structurally difficult.

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Why Social Change Feels Slow — and Why That Slowness Matters

Across movements for justice, sustainability, and equity, a common frustration emerges: the feeling that change is not happening fast enough, or worse, that progress is going backwards. This perception can be deeply demoralising for those working in social change spaces, particularly when effort, urgency, and moral conviction appear to yield limited visible results. Yet this

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Parenting Through a Crisis: Moving from Fear to Action in the Climate Era

As the planet continues to warm and weather patterns become ever more unpredictable, families everywhere face a daunting question: how do we bring up children in the midst of a climate emergency without surrendering to anxiety? In a ground‑breaking conversation between host Tiyana J and climate journalist‑parent Bridget Shirvell on the Changemaker Q & A podcast (produced by the

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Meaningful Conversation for Change: Embracing the Socratic Dialogue

n a time when public discourse often feels like a battleground rather than a bridge, the question for many change‑makers is not simply “How can I convince others?” but rather: “How can I engage with others so that we truly understand one another?” In the latest episode of Changemaker Q & A, I tackled this question head‑on:

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The Future of Volunteering: Flexibility, Impact, and Community

In today’s rapidly evolving social‑impact landscape, volunteer engagement is undergoing a fundamental shift. In a recent conversation on our podcast, volunteer‑engagement specialist Karen Knight shared insights drawn from her own career—one that began unexpectedly, with an 11‑year‑old reading bingo numbers at her grandmother’s care home—and has led to advising organisations on how to build robust volunteer programs. From

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Finding Your Changemaking Niche: Why It’s a Journey, Not a Destination

In the latest episode of Changemaker Q&A, host Tiyana J invites listeners to dive deeply into a question many aspiring activists and professionals face: “How do I find clarity about my changemaking niche or purpose?” It’s a question rooted in the drive to make a difference—but one that rarely has a simple answer. In this article, we

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Guerrilla Scholarship: Reclaiming the Space for Radical Intellectual Mobility

In this episode of Changemaker Q & A, produced by the School of Social Impact, host Tiyana J. sits down with Dr Sheldon to explore a concept he calls guerrilla scholarship—an inventive approach to research and knowledge creation outside the conventional academy. What emerges is a provocative argument for rewiring how we define scholarship, who

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