The Exchange Collaborative is a group of six Auckland-based organisations working together to enable women of migrant and refugee background to create social connections in Aotearoa.
The group has developed with the support of the New Zealand Leadership Institute and is founded on a process of exploration that started with a question: ‘How can isolated migrant and refugee background women be enabled to build social connections?’
The Exchange has undertaken some research with women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, people who work in the migrant and refugee sector and people who do not (but who are successful in what they do). This identified several common themes related to reducing social isolation. These themes included the need for better language skills and information exchange especially about housing, transport, work and neighbourhood connections. Many of the women spoken with in this research also had great ideas of what would have made a difference for them.
What we do is informed by conversations with any women who are interested in improving social connections and reducing social isolation among women from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
At this stage, the Exchange is prototyping how to create opportunities for women with experience of social isolation to develop project plans. The Exchange offers mentoring and support and also facilitates connection with key partners to develop and deliver on these plans and to support the creation of a suite of tools, approaches and resources which can be used to improve social connection among migrant and refugee background women.
The Exchange Collaborative has three key elements at its core.
- Operating in a style of collaboration grounded in the experiences and expertise of migrant and refugee background women.
- Assisting the growth of capacity and capability of these women and the groups, communities and organisations they are part of.
- Developing robust and effective services and products to improve social connections among women of migrant and refugee background.
There may be other roles the Exchange can undertake too. The contributing organisations are interested in considering how else they can support and enable increased social connection, including by ensuring existing services, approaches and resources are enhanced by the work The Exchange offers, and that outcomes for women improve.
