Diaspora Labs

Diaspora Action Australia’s labs are designed specifically for refugee and migrant organisations involved in the promotion of human rights, development and peace-building. Labs are designed to bring together new and established organisations, facilitate knowledge sharing while combining theory and practical activities that fully engage all participants.

Diaspora labs enable community organisations to build knowledge, capacity and expertise in areas they tell us are important to them. These include organisational strengthening; grant writing; fundraising; attracting and sustaining volunteers and boards; setting up projects overseas; advocacy; communications, and strategic planning.

The Lab approach is a staged strategy to firstly work with organisations to ensure they have the necessary governance, financial and project management capabilities internally. We then bring that community organisation into a series of workshops with representatives from other diaspora communities to transfer knowledge, assess risk and develop detailed project plans.

We have designed this approach to maximise opportunities for intercultural mentoring, while minimising risk and enabling more robust planning for new projects.

Since our beginning more than 1700 people have accessed Diaspora Action Australia capacity and capability building services. People came from a range of diaspora organisations representing communities from Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Diaspora Action Australia is committed to making the labs as accessible as possible, in person or online, by offering them on weekends and evenings, free of charge.

For more information, please contact us at info@diasporaaction.org.au

Check out our online Community Hub for resources and useful templates!