About

I live in the Yukon and am currently doing a Masters of Education at the University of Victoria in a “Community Leadership and Adult Education” program. This blog, “Why people act”, is part of my research work for this program. To put it simply, I am exploring why some people get involved in change activities while other people with similar values and ideas don’t.

I have been involved in the non-profit community at the local and national level for many years. One of the challenges facing organizations with a mandate to make some sort of change in our world is how to get people actively involved in their campaigns. These could be campaigns to change policy, perceptions, practices or all of the above. It might involve letter-writing, taking to the streets, calling politicians, talking to neighbours, signing petitions, sitting on issue-oriented committees and so on. (It doesn’t involve service or administration-oriented volunteer activities – these are important but not the focus of my research).

While many people support the work and intent of these organizations, and may even be members, far fewer people will respond to calls for action. I have my own thoughts on why some people get involved and some groups are more successful than others and will be sharing them on this blog. I will also highlight some of what other authors are saying on the subject.

However, I am most interested in sparking discussion with readers about what motivates people to get involved in advocacy activities. Whether you respond based on your own experience, have opinions on what you see around you, or have worked for a non-profit and tackled some of these challenges, I look forward to reading your ideas. (If you’re not from the Yukon, please contribute, but let me know where you are from).

Thanks,

Jennifer Ellis