Allyship: Your Role As a Changemaker

About the Authors

ERIN F. MCCLAIN graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Climate Science and Creative Writing. At Penn she received the 2024 LPS Award for Academic Achievement in the Natural Sciences. In 2021 Erin graduated Summa Cum Laude with an A.S. in Mathematics from the Community College of Allegheny County, and that year she was named the Two Year College Student of the Year by the Northeast Regional Honors Council. Her professional interests are in sustainable housing and food and agriculture policy with regards to climate change. Erin works with the Changemaker Training team and formerly co-led the congressional and corporate outreach team.

TONY PASSINO is a second year Ph.D. student in the Organizations and Social Change program within the College of Management at UMass Boston. He is a National Climate Fellow at Change the Chamber* Lobby for Climate and a founding member of the Environmental Changemaker Training. As an early career scholar-activist, his research interests lie at the intersection between food systems and the natural environment. Before the Ph.D. program, Tony worked for a leading non-profit public health campaign where he used arts-based pedagogy to train students at colleges across the country to pass 100% tobacco and vape free policies. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview

When it comes to being a Changemaker, it is important to think about how you relate to the specific issue that you are working on. Is it an issue that directly impacts you or is it something that primarily affects a different community? For issues that do not directly impact you, allyship is essential. In this module you will learn what allyship is, as well as how to become an effective Ally. Think of this module not as a full guide for effective allyship but as a snapshot of some of the important elements. As you may already know, allyship is an ongoing process and the work is never done.

Key Learnings

Upon completion of this module, you will have:

  • Analyzed what it means to be an ally in the environmental movement.

  • Understood the importance of environmental justice.

  • Clarified your role as an ally and how this relates to being a changemaker.

Required Content (1.5 hour estimated commitment)

To complete this module, you must:

Supplemental Content

The following articles / videos / resources are recommended but not required:

Introduction

Welcome to the introduction on How to be an Ally as a Changemaker. This section is an important part of understanding the intersectionality of issues around all of us. Even if your change-making is focused on a specific place or issue within a locality, the way you approach an issue must take others into account.

This is a beginner’s lesson on how to effectively show up as an ally. As activists and organizers at Change the Chamber, we believe that allyship is essential to being an effective changemaker. Being an ally isn’t just about having a place of privilege in society, it’s about using your advantages, whether it’s your name (or the name of your group), your expertise, your connections, or your passion for empowering others in their own changemaking journey.

Being an ally doesn’t look the same for everyone. Being an ally may not even mean the same thing each time that you may be asked to show up for others. More than anything, being an ally means that you take every opportunity as a new chance to learn and listen, so that you can be the most effective ally, partner, or supporter that you can be.

What Is An Ally?

An ally isn’t something that you can declare yourself, but is defined by your actions and how you show up for others. You work towards being an ally for others through your actions and support. If you’ve never had a chance to practice allyship before, think of yourself as an ally-in-training, learning the ways to effectively show up for others when they need you most. Who knows, maybe one day, they will show up for you when you need help advocating for change. We begin this section by asking you to watch the following required video titled: What is Allyship?

When Is Allyship Needed?

We all need allies to help us continue our missions as changemakers. When to be an ally can be difficult to discern on your own. Sometimes, it’s as simple as speaking up to lend your support, voice, or amplify the messages of others. The best way to know when and how to be a good ally is to ask! Asking things like, “Hey, how can I (or my group) support you more?” or “What’s the best way for us to help each other?” are good examples of how to start a conversation on allyship.

It is important to recognize that allyship is more than a role or an identity; it is an action. It is something that you do that requires the formation of strong relationships with those you are standing in solidarity with. Listening and recognizing the wide swath of experiences and needs are key components of allyship. A crucial component of being a good ally is realizing that you don’t dictate the terms of what someone else needs or when they need you to show up. When you show up to another group’s space to lend support, it’s imperative to give them what they request, and not what you imagine they need from you. You can always offer more as an ally if you have expertise or other resources available that could be beneficial, but only after you’ve determined how to meet an initial request for allyship.

Performative allyship is when someone is only an ally in name, making outwardly grand gestures with no real changemaking action behind them. While it’s easy to label yourself an ally, without action to support others, this is just performative allyship. Performances all end at some point, and without any substantial action, performative allyship will hurt your relationships with other people and groups. Steer clear of lending your name or credibility to requests that don’t follow through with any real action.

Recognizing Your Privilege

We are more than the sum of our parts, and that is especially true when we’re showing up for other people. Our histories, interests, and culture, among other attributes, can provide us with unique perspectives and privileges. When you think about ways that you can show up as an ally, try to think in different contexts about how your background and experience contribute to privilege that you can leverage to help you aid the missions of others.

Privilege is more than attributes that are inherently part of your identity, but can include those things. Your gender, age, ethnicity, or background can confer some privilege upon you, but it’s important to think past those general items. Think about how your experiences, education, and personal history contribute to your perspective, so you can recognize and appreciate yourself in that context and apply it to your allyship.

Allyship shouldn’t be driven solely by your self-interest or a need to be altruistic as an individual, and this should be taken into consideration when you’re thinking about identity and privilege. Consider where your privilege meets social justice, and how you can empower your group with your skills and background. For more information on privilege, view this required video.

What Does Allyship Mean As An Environmental Changemaker?

When we put allyship specifically in the context of environmental changemaking, it means taking a broader view of the reality and history of fighting against climate change and environmental issues. Throughout history, many people from all walks of life have been involved in environmental and climate issues that range from climate change awareness, natural resource conservation and pollution abatement, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, research into alternative energy, environmental justice, and more. There is history here, and many, many people and groups have been in this fight for a long time. Additionally, climate and environmental issues impact people and groups around the world unequally. That means that these people, with their unique perspectives, missions, and histories, are your allies too, and you can call on them to share knowledge, resources, and strategies as you follow your changemaker path. Listening to others about their experiences and ideas on how to break down oppressive social systems related to climate change and the environment are key parts of being a good ally. 

When you show up to start changemaking, you also need to be ready to do the work of an ally as you work towards your own goals. Environmental issues work on a long schedule, and no one person or group can affect major systemic change all on their own. Recognize that being an ally, partner, and changemaker are all facets of the same role.

Environmental Justice and Systems of Inequality

As you work as an environmental changemaker, you’re going to be confronted with systemic inequalities. These are big and often frustrating, complex systems that can and will intersect with environmental issues. Watch the following required video and think about how many of the world’s biggest problems are connected in complicated ways: Presentation on Poverty, Pollution, and Public Health.

It’s important to realize that no matter how big the problem or the roadblocks that accompany it, part of making change is challenging these systems and the power that holds them in place. Your role as a changemaker and as an ally depends on it. In some of the later modules, you will learn more about how to change entire systems.

How Do You Show Up for the Communities Most Impacted By Environmental Issues?

Every community is hurt by environmental change and misuse. However, we know from data that, across the socioeconomic spectrum, lower-income communities suffer much more from environmental issues stemming from climate change. It can be difficult and frustrating work to confront climate injustice, but it’s essential to environmental changemaking.

Dating back to the early colonial period in North America, Indigenous communities have experienced a considerable amount of injustice as a result of colonization. Today, many of these communities are still suffering from this history. Whether it relates to issues such as food sovereignty, health, education or civil rights in tribal communities, this history has contributed to a considerable amount of distrust between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. In your work as a changemaker, it is vital that you understand this history if you decide that you want to be an ally to indigenous people. For more on how to do this, we encourage you to look through the Indigenous Ally Toolkit created at the Indigenous Network Gathering in the Treaty 7 Territory. 

As you look through this toolkit, we encourage you to pick a couple of topics and learn more about them online. Not only does this allow you to learn more about what you are interested in, but it is a powerful way to educate yourself as a changemaker. This idea is referred to as “self directed learning,” and it is an essential skill that you can utilize in your role as a changemaker.

Whether you are trying to engage with indigenous communities or other groups unfamiliar to you but impacted by climate change, you have to ask them how to best be an ally. This can produce many answers, and it’s up to you to discern how best to meet the terms of their requests. Listening to people impacted by the problem is probably one of the most valuable ways to learn how to be an ally, and is vital to real changemaking. It is also important that you follow through with any commitments that you make because this helps to build trust and establish a relationship.

Keep in mind that these communities don’t need or want a savior to come in and solve all of their problems, but rather someone to work with them, amplify their voices, or connect them to other resources. Resist the urge to be a savior to others when your role is supporting, and use your allyship as a chance to be open to learning about other places, cultures, and people. Remember not to see any group only as a group, but as people who’ve asked for your presence, and can rescind that invitation at any time.

Accessibility and Inclusion in the Environmental Movement

Oftentimes, those closest to the problem are the last to have a say in the process of creating solutions. This is a major problem that deserves attention, and it is closely related to the current conversation on environmental justice and allyship. We are all impacted by our environment, but how can we expect to most effectively and equitably address the problems associated with our environment when those most harmed by the problem are not allowed to have a seat at the table?

Accessibility is a broad term that can refer to many different factors. For example, reading materials can be made more accessible by avoiding technical language. Reading materials can also be made more accessible for folks with low/no vision by using contrasting colors or by providing a voice-to-text option. (At the very least, the text should be able to be read by a screen reader). When it comes to being an environmental changemaker, it is also important to consider how issues related to accessibility and disability may impact how folks show up to do this work. Read the required article on What it means to be a Disability Ally and consider how you can create a more equitable and inclusive climate movement. While this is a U.S. based document, most of the concepts apply internationally.

All people deserve to have a place in the environmental movement because this is a problem that impacts all of us. As a movement that has been historically driven by white, privileged individuals, it is time to create a space where all people feel welcome to advocate for change. This is the task that you as a changemaker can directly contribute to that will have a lasting impact on the movement. If you are unsure where to start, the first step is accomplished by uplifting and supporting those who look differently and think differently than yourself. By supporting those who don’t share commonalities, you help to create a more accessible and inclusive movement. Watch the required video on inclusion above and think about what you can do to be a more supportive ally.

The Complexity of Allyship

In this module, we haven’t taken the time to dig into all of the details of how to best support specific groups of people as an ally. This is a broad subject where we could never sufficiently cover every complexity and idea, but one where we must commit to lifelong learning. As your work grows and changes, you will have many opportunities to be an ally, or to call on your own allies for support. Your identity may change and alter how you show up for others, so your allyship and understanding of others can and should evolve with you.

Be sure to look for information either online or via other formats from experts or professionals who work with diverse groups. Use these supplemental resources to help you as you learn to work with others in your group and as an ally. Some good places to start are with GLAAD Media Reference Guide, the Disability Language Style Guide, and this Anti-Racism Toolkit for Allies. Understanding and using language that’s part of the community can help build your relationship with your allies. It’s especially important as you go on to do the research on how to support people in marginalized communities specifically, so your allyship work is based on understanding the broad needs of any group from the start.

Identities are complex and often evolving things, so it’s important to look at each section of the toolkit and keep an open mind as you continue to learn about specific groups. More than anything else, remember that toolkits, articles, videos, and other information are guidelines, incomplete and imperfect, but great starting points. Just as you’d want someone to take the time to get to know you, your group, and your mission as they work with you, do the same for your allies.

Please remember that as an ally, there are always paths to continue learning. Challenge yourself to learn about other people as groups and individuals, and think of how you can be a better ally to them if and when you’re called to do so.

Activism and Action from Allyship

Often, once a cause has come to your attention as an ally, it helps to grow your understanding, interest, and investment in the issue. This can cause your role as an ally to shift. As an ally, you’re a supporter, in whatever capacity that’s needed. Please keep in mind that while you can’t assume an identity that isn’t yours or speak for a group you don’t belong to, you can often find a more active role beyond allyship in the group or find a recommendation for a group that’s a better fit for you. 

This is a process that must be done with care; you still need your allies! You should not damage the relationship you’ve built with your allies now by being thoughtless as you change your role. When in doubt about how to continue to work with your allies as your role changes, just ask them and start the conversation around your personal growth and change.

As you think about taking on a different role, read What Activists Want from Allies. This article highlights both activism and allyship working together. After reading it, think about how you’ve shown up. Are you still an ally, or are you an activist? What role best suits you? If you decide to move from ally to activist, consider the points in this article and how your trustworthiness can help you gain influence in your new role. Changing roles can be tough, but use caring, caution, and transparency with your groups and allies as you move into your new role and perspective.

There are a few things to keep in mind when moving beyond allyship into action and activism.

First, figure out how you can move from supporting to taking more direct action. Then think about where else you can offer value with a skill or effort that results in more action. This step is crucial, because you’re figuring out what expertise you can offer that is more than support, which may feel difficult when you’re first stepping out of your allyship role. If you are doing this within a group, check that your ideas match their needs.

Remember that direct action can be part of allyship as well, so if you’re taking a more active role, think of new and bigger opportunities for yourself as an activist. 

Try to use SMART goals as you change your role; turning your actions into Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely actions. 

  • Specific in what and how you want to achieve your goals. 

  • Measurable in measuring impact, getting feedback, and using metrics if available, (like the number of people attending an event). 

  • Achievable goals, because you want to remain a trusted resource that delivers on their promises, and works within real limits. 

  • Relevant tasks support your purpose and goals and add value to your group or mission. 

  • Timely means that your events, goals, or tasks happen within a time frame that supports your mission and doesn’t stall it by being too slow, or overwhelm it by happening too quickly.

Module Summary

Allyship is for everyone! The more you show up for others in your community, the better changemaker you will be. Remember that allyship isn’t always about banding together in times of need; it’s also about building community, exchanging ideas and knowledge, and lending support in all kinds of ways. As you continue your journey as a Changemaker and Ally, you may come to find that many of our struggles are interconnected and that this awareness can be a powerful insight to drive more effective action and systemic change. 

Congratulations on completing the Allyship module!