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Social Norms Chat is a podcast for practitioners, funders, and changemakers eager to explore how social norms shape behaviors, how they can be shifted to drive meaningful change and how this translates into practice. Hosted by Cäcilia Riederer from TransformNorms this podcast goes through thematic deep dives on topics like mental health, violence, and gender dynamics, we blend research, case studies, and expert insights to uncover what works (and what doesn’t) in fostering deep normative change. With special guests and real-world examples, we provide actionable strategies for those working in policy, advocacy, and community development.
16 Episodes
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Send us a text How can we build and strengthen capacities in order to promote gender norms change? In this episode of Social Norms Chat, host Cäcilia is joined by Lori Heise, from Prevention Collaborative. They talk about gender norms, violence prevention, and how practitioners can effectively design programs for social change. Our Recommendation: Transforming Gender Norms for Violence Prevention, an accessible and comprehensive course by Prevention Collaborative. In the epi...
Send us a text What can be do inside your organization to help you better drive changes in the outside? In this episode of Social Norms Chat, host Cäcilia, Helene Wolf and Anusha Bharadwaj, Co-Executive Directors at Fair Share of Women Leaders talk about feminist leadership and how internal changes in organizations can drive good change for everyone. Our Recommendation: Feminist Project Management offers tools and insights on every step of the project management cycle and how can you im...
Send us a text What do social and gender norms have to do with online gender-based violence and what can we do to tackle it? In this episode of Social Norms Chat, host Cäcilia and Chioma Agwuegbo, Executive Director at TechHerNG, talk about how important it is and how to tackle techonology facilitated violence. Our Recommendation: Transforming Social Norms Toolkit This toolkit by TransformNorms is perfect to think about your next social norms intervention, either on your own or as a bra...
Send us a text How can we use Entertainment to drive behavior? And more importantly, how can we measure this impact? In this episode of Social Norms Chat, host Cäcilia and Amy Henderson Riley, Director of Research, Evaluation, and Impact at Population Media Center, Education-Entertainment (EE), Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) and monitoring and evaluation. This conversation highlights different evaluation methods and different ways to foster behavior change t...
Send us a text What comes first—laws or social change? In this episode of Social Norms Chat, host Cäcilia sits down with Julie Thekkudan, South Asia Consultant for Equality Now in South Asia, to explore the powerful and often complex interplay between social norms, legal reform, and justice systems. Julie shares her personal journey into women’s rights advocacy, beginning with childhood observations that sparked a lifelong commitment to equality. Together, they unpack how pa...
Send us a text What happens when funders truly trust communities—and build long-term, flexible support around their leadership? In Episode 10 of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia Riederer speaks with Jama Jack, Senior Communications Officer at Girls First Fund, about rethinking philanthropy and power in the fight for gender justice. From her early activism (at Lend a Hand Society) in the Gambia to her current work supporting community-based organizations to end child marriage, Jama shares how ...
Send us a text In this episode of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia speaks with Georgia Arnold, former Executive Director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and founder of the GA-Agency. Georgia has spent decades using the power of storytelling to challenge social norms, particularly around HIV, gender, and sexuality. She shares how groundbreaking shows like Shuga—MTV’s scripted drama tackling topics from HIV prevention to gender-based violence—have not only entertained millions across Africa...
Send us a text In this episode of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia sits down with Amisa Rashid, founder of the Nivishe Foundation, a grassroots organization working to make mental health care accessible, dignified, and culturally sensitive in Kenya—particularly for marginalized communities. Amisa shares the powerful story behind Nivishe’s founding, rooted in her personal experiences growing up in the Nubian community in Kibra. She discusses how lack of identification documents and systemic ma...
Send us a text How can we engage adolescents in conversations about gender, power, and social change—and support them in becoming agents of change in their communities? In Episode 7 of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia Riederer speaks with Nayana Chowdhury, CEO of Breakthrough India, about how the organization has built large-scale programs to shift harmful gender norms among adolescents. Drawing from Breakthrough’s flagship initiative Taaron Ki Toli, Nayana shares lessons from working with yo...
Send us a text How can media support long-term social norms change? In Episode 6 of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia Riederer is joined by Anna Bwana, Country Director of BBC Media Action Tanzania, to explore how storytelling, mass media, and digital platforms can challenge harmful norms and promote positive change. Drawing on years of experience with media initiatives like Niambie, Anna shares what it takes to build trust, adapt to evolving contexts, and keep young people at the center of so...
Send us a text What are the most common misconceptions about how social norms and behaviors interact—and how can they mislead even well-intentioned change-makers? In Episode 5 of Social Norms Chat, Cäcilia Riederer and Dr. Sohail Agha bust five big myths that often show up in the world of social and behavior change. From the myth of a one-way relationship between norms and behaviors to the oversimplification of how change happens, this episode is a reality check for anyone working to sh...
Send us a text How do we identify social norms in a community before designing interventions? In Social Norms Chat’s fourth episode, Cäcilia Riederer and Dr. Sohail Agha dive into the role of formative research in mapping social norms. They unpack how to make sure to ask the right questions and how to design a doable but helpful formative research. Projects and articles we mentioned: Change Starts at Home: Baseline report of a trial to prevent intimate partner violence among married co...
Send us a text What are reference groups, both in theory and in practice? In Social Norms Chat’s third episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the ideas of role models, champions and reference groups. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide Projects and articles we mentioned: Prevention Collaborative - Bandebereho Female genital cutting in the Gambia: a case for Tostan Dynamics of change in the practice of female genital cutting in Senegambia: Testing p...
Send us a text What are social norms, where do they come from, and why do we follow them even when they go against our personal beliefs? In Social Norms Chat’s second episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the concept and the theory behind it. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide If you want to read more about Social Norms, check out: The Social Norms Atlas: Understanding global social norms and related concepts - Social Norms Learning Collaborative. Av...
Send us a text What are behaviors and why are they so important for social norms change? In Social Norms Chat’s very first episode, Sohail Agha and Cäcilia Riederer go through the concept of behavior and the theory behind it. Download our Toolkit: bit.ly/transformnormsguide The resources mentioned in the episode are: Fogg Model https://behaviormodel.org/ Saleema Program https://www.unicef.org/sudan/saleema-initiative If you have any question, feedback or insi...
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