Ncedisa is an Africa-centered Systems Change and Field Learning Partner . That is to say she teaches systems change , she helps organisations apply systems change to their strategies and she partners with any collectives that are committed to discovering organisational wellbeing. She was the inaugural Director of Bertha House, where she founded 2s and 4s: a video music series that draws on African musical production to foster post-activism in SA’s social justice sector. In her spare time she rollerblades, cycles and plays music. Always guided by Dr Toni Morrison’s words: “The function of freedom is to free someone else.”, Ncedisa holds an abiding curiosity and faith in the power of narratives as stewards of possibility.
In this episode, Ncedisa excellently guides us through systems thinking and how story and narrative are interwoven in the work of systems change. She quotes songs as easily as she explains complexity. We speak about Sinead O'Connor, Lauryn Hill and Tori Amos. We also consider experiencing joy and the humanising nature of it and its indispensableness. Ncedisa embodies this joy in her laughter, our conversation weaves and meanders and we laugh together a lot. We recorded this on a sweltering day in Cape Town, and still the conversation has a sense of ease and restfulness.
The Tori Amos song Ncedisa references is called “Girl” and the chorus has the lyrics she quotes:
“She's been everybody else's girl, Maybe one day she'll be her own”
The substack Tristan mentions in the podcast is by Joel Ramirez and the poem is included in the post titled Risking Delight.
The music in this episode is composed and arranged by Rashid Epstein Adams / Arkenstone, and Pursuit.
