history – how we began

It was Sally Stevenson AM who had the original idea for indigo foundation. Frustrated and deeply disappointed with the inherently disrespectful, controlling and ultimately ineffectual way some of the world’s largest aid agencies worked, Sally joined forces with other concerned women, and they set up their own organisation. Together, they held a deep belief that it was possible to take a more creative, dynamic and innovative approach to international development, where local community partners were trusted to decide and lead their own development, supported through long-term partnerships. Those involved in the beginning also drew on their experiences working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and community development projects in Australia.

indigo foundation was born out of shared concerns and beliefs, and this remains one of its pivotal strengths today. The shared concerns related to social, economic and gender in equalities; the concentration of economic and political power globally; environmental degradation; the erosion of diversity; the reluctance or unwillingness of many agencies to listen and engage communities in development processes; and the gaps between development rhetoric and practice. But it was a shared commitment to beliefs and principles – social justice, respectful relationships, community-owned and community-led development, cooperation, and the importance of action research and learning – that guided the founding thinkers in moving indigo foundation from an idea to a powerful reality.

In 1999, Sally brought together around 15 movers and shakers through two workshops to canvas what indigo foundation could be and do as an Australian-based international NGO. Most participants were from inside the aid sector, having worked for the government agency AusAID and other international and national NGOs. They wrestled with the big vision, the foundational principles and ambitions, and the practical realities of starting an organisation. They were both idealistic and pragmatic.

They called themselves ‘possibility explorers’, sharing experiences and readings, critically reflecting on the shortcomings of development practice and institutional aid arrangements, and together imagining a different way of doing development. All along, they firmly believed in the power of communities to achieve real change at a local level and to address systemic barriers to justice and equity over time.

Exploring the idea generated hope, vision and the firm belief that a different NGO could put power back in the hands of local communities, deliver great outcomes with local partners, and be a model of practice, research and learning that would benefit other NGOs and the international development sector.

Following the workshops, Sally Stevenson and Sally Blake carried the idea forward, bringing in other women who shared their beliefs and goals – Paula Gleeson, Margaret Easterbrook, Zoë Mander-Jones, Jenny Noble and  Susan Engel. In the beginning, they were the committee, the funders, the volunteers, the brains trust and the promoters of indigo foundation. Friendships grew and deepened, but so did the passion for a new way of doing development and the capacity for respectful and, at times, vigorous debate.

The first management committee began its work in May 2000 following indigo foundation’s incorporation as an association. The ambitions were big, and the hard work had just begun. Importantly, indigo foundation’s guiding principles – community ownership, sustainability, transparency and equity – were already firmly in place, together with a commitment to respectful relationships and mutual learning.

Those establishing indigo foundation were determined to bridge the ‘research–action divide’. This meant ensuring sound research before a project was started, undertaking context-specific analysis based on the community’s experience, and drawing on established theories and principles in project design. Part of our radical edge was this dual focus of empowering and listening to communities and drawing on research and learning from indigo’s own projects and development experience more broadly.

In recognising the importance of structural and political change for sustainable development, the early leaders referred to and used international instruments and agreements on human rights, political and civil rights, primary health care and health promotion. This gave greater legitimacy and power to their development objectives and approach. And it was anticipated that over time the international frameworks could be used by local partners and in Australia to advocate for change. There was recognition from the very beginning that the organisation’s future success and influence would rely on indigo foundation being respected within, grounded in and connected to the Australian context.  Although small, indigo set out to create and model a different approach that would influence development practice more widely. Those who led the organisation back then knew this could only be achieved through participation in development discourse, building a network of supporters and believers, and linking to relevant social change movements in Australia.

By the end of our first year of operation, indigo had generated $24,000 in income. During the first few years, those forming the organisation gave a proportion of their consultancy income to support the projects. Sally Stevenson explains:

“We believed the very high fees paid to international consultants, and the associated costs of deploying them, were unethical and effectively diverted funds from communities that needed them most. It was important that we practised this belief – putting our money where our mouth was – and so redirected 25 per cent of any consultancy earnings to indigo foundation for its direct support of communities.”

Income was also raised through membership fees and donations from people who strongly believed in indigo foundation’s potential.  The early leaders were successful in bringing others on board with the vision for indigo foundation – both the principles and the possibilities. Being part of something new and quietly radical was an exciting prospect. Our membership grew steadily, and individuals, businesses and professionals provided organisational support in the development of policies, and systems, getting the word out, building relationships and generating income. This was aided by Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA, allowing indigo foundation to come under their Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status until it had gained its own. This lent credibility to fundraising efforts and the number of donors grew.

indigo foundation’s people in Australia, all of whom were volunteers, held to a flat decision-making structure, shared a commitment to social justice, had fun, argued respectfully, undertook multiple roles and always supported each other with kindness. Their motivation came from believing in an idea and forging a shared project together.

From the very beginning, our portfolio of projects was diverse – precisely because they were community-led and responsive to local priorities. The aim was to partner with and fund local community-based organisations in marginalised communities, particularly those that had been overlooked by bigger agencies or put in the too-hard basket.

The first project started in early 2001. It came about through a partnership between indigo foundation, Family Planning Australia and communities in the Delha region of Rote Island, Indonesia, focusing initially on health issues, agricultural training and public infrastructure.

By 2004, indigo foundation was supporting four community partners and had plans to double this. Partnerships had been established with Lua Lemba Education and Community Development Foundation on Rote Island, Indonesia; Centro Feto (Women’s Centre) in Oecusse, Timor-Leste; the Archdiocese of Honiara and Communities of  Guadalcanal, in the remote Weathercoast of the Solomon Islands; and, a school in Borjegai in the Hazarajhat region, central Afghanistan. Each of these projects tells a different story of relationships, assessment of needs, community priorities, proposals that took shape and the nature of support offered.

Each community partnership was supported by a volunteer Partnership Coordinator, and early on these were mostly Management Committee members. The Partnership Coordinators supported the local partner both remotely and through visits to the community. In addition, they worked alongside the partner to build their capacity, and they gathered the information that was required for gaining financial support for the project and for accountability to donors. This model continues up to today.

The early projects demonstrated indigo foundation living out its principles and walking the talk of respect. There were big leaps forward and some stumbles in the partnerships that developed. From very early on, our approach was different, as reflected in these key premises:

• Respectful partnership – giving time and space to explore and build honest relationships, to develop trust and to reach agreement on the support needed in a given context.
• Living by principles – using the guiding principles (community ownership, sustainability, transparency and equity) as an ethical compass, as criteria for project decisions, in monitoring and evaluation and as a framework for collaboration and mutual learning about development practice.
• Flexibility – following the community’s priorities and allowing partners to make mistakes, adjust activities and develop capabilities over time.
• Listening, reciprocity and humility – understanding that learning is necessarily a two-way process and that reciprocity in learning and relationships always has a two-way benefit.
• Small can be BIG – believing that small amounts of financial support within a trusted partnership can unleash the potential of local groups and be a powerful catalyst for change.
• Providing core funding – running against the trends of the day, being prepared to meet costs that other international development donors rule out through funding guidelines, such as salaries and training. This was based on a belief that most organisations are their people, and people should be paid equitably, and their volunteer labour not exploited.
• Staying the distance – understanding that a partnership will take a long time to develop and mature and that development is never a tidy or linear process.
• An eye to sustainability and addressing underlying causes of poverty and marginalisation – recognising communities’ strengths and supporting them to engage with broader structural inequalities.

In 2008, our tagline of ‘The first thing we offer is respect’ was coined, but respect has been at the heart of indigo foundation’s identity and approach since the very beginning. In the words of Zoë Mander-Jones, part of the founding group and a long-term Development Advisor to indigo foundation, offering respect as the very first thing demands one withholds judgement and works towards equal and honest relationships. The tagline so wonderfully captures indigo foundation’s approach.  Above all else, we held firm to the primacy of locally led action and partnerships based on genuine respect.

Twenty-four years on, indigo foundation holds true to the aspirations and principles that guided its establishment, and to the fundamental belief that it is communities who are best placed to understand and act on their own development priorities.

How did indigo foundation get it’s name?

Hope and possibility were significant factors in choosing the name ‘indigo foundation’. It lent itself to the acronym ‘IF’, reflecting the optimism and determination felt by those who were involved from the beginning.

Indigo is a plant cultivated and used by women across Southeast Asia and in other parts of the world. It produces a rich and beautiful dye that is used to colour cloth and threads for weaving, a predominantly female activity. Indigo dye comes from a scraggly plant that at first glance doesn’t look like it will deliver much, but with care and nurture, it produces amazing, vibrant results. The plant’s journey mirrors a belief in community-led and-owned development, which can be messy and slow to deliver, but is ultimately transformational in its impact. Choosing the name ‘indigo foundation’ also reflected a profound commitment to the power and importance of women and girls in development.

The logo – with the hummingbird and book design – came a little later. The book represents education, the bedrock of human development and opportunities. The hummingbird is small, agile and tenacious. Its beauty lifts the spirits, and its adaptability is critical to its survival. These attributes speak to indigo foundation as a small, creative organisation that uses a light touch in its partnership and community development approaches.

To celebrate our 20th Anniversary in 2020, indigo foundation published a book – The Power of Community-Led Development.