When I wrote about Preemptive Love, I promised it was the first of a series of posts about nonprofit organizations.
It’s about time I write another post for that promised series.
This time I’d like to introduce you to Alight, formerly known as the American Refugee Committee. Alight was on my radar before its name change, but when the 2019 rebrand happened, I sat up and took notice. Given my professional background, I confess I have a hard time untangling my feelings about the rebranding from my feelings about Alight’s work. I’ll go into the rebranding at the end of this post for readers who, like me, get a little nerdy over such things.
What is Alight?
In the organization’s words, Alight builds “a meaningful life for and with the displaced. Not simply basic needs, but a life filled with joy, dignity, connection, and purpose.”
Alight is made up of several smaller organizations:
- Kuja Kuja. Kuja Kuja recognizes that humanitarian organizations need to focus on the people they serve, not on big donors. As such, it considers refugees as its customers, asking them two questions: Were you happy with today’s service? Any ideas on how we can do better?
- Asili. Focused on providing healthcare and other humanitarian services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Asili rejects the notion that its customers should receive services that just meet the minimum quality standards. Instead, it seeks to meet the highest industry standards through its clinics, its water system, and its agricultural cooperatives.
- Questscope. Questscope provides “social, educational, and entrepreneurial opportunities for marginalized youth” in places like a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. Some of its services include a mentoring program and alternative educational opportunities.
- Changemakers 365. Changemakers 365 focuses on creating change for no more than $500 per day. This might mean providing bedding for refugees at the request of someone who works in a reception center, or setting up touch-free handwashing stations in response to COVID-19.
- I Am A Star. This award-winning program helps rebuild Somalia through assistance provided to returning refugees and existing communities.
- ORAM (Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration). This organization focuses on something I had never thought of before reading about their work in some of Alight’s literature: “advocating for sexual and gender minority asylum seekers and refugees fleeing persecution and violence.”
What makes Alight special?
There are a few things I particularly love about Alight.
- Alight works with its “customers” to create programs that serve their needs. While an increasing number of humanitarian organizations are letting those they serve help guide their work, there are still far too many organizations that embrace the “savior” role, in which the organization swoops in with ideas but doesn’t consult with the people it wants to help. A customer-centered approach acknowledges that nonprofits need to listen to the people they are serving as they express their needs and share their ideas for solutions. Do they really need for you to ship in food for hungry people, or would they prefer that you buy the food you’re distributing from local farmers?
- Alight emphasizes joy over “poverty porn.” “Poverty porn” focuses on suffering — think pictures of naked children who are clearly starving. We feel so good helping those poor children. But while poverty does cause suffering, that’s only part of the picture, and when we focus solely on suffering, we can develop an unhealthy perspective on poverty and how we fit into the picture. Alight focuses on joy and optimism as it works alongside the people it serves.
- Alight involves supporters in all sorts of interesting ways. Before the pandemic, Alight invited people to tour its Minneapolis facilities and to attend monthly educational sessions and volunteer events. I haven’t seen many organizations that have worked so hard to provide accessible ways for supporters to do more than just write a check. I hope they will take this up again once it is safe to do so.
How you can participate in their work
- Obviously, you can donate to support their work, whether you donate regularly, make a one-time gift, or arrange for some other donation, such as a gift of stock.
- You can follow their work. During the pandemic, their most active channels of communication seem to be Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but they also have a presence on YouTube and LinkedIn, and their website contains a wealth of information. You can sign up to receive email from them (check out the right-hand column on their home page), but I haven’t received anything from them in a while. Of course, I have this habit of unsubscribing from email lists when I feel like too much is pouring into my inbox, so that could be the problem.
- As I mentioned earlier, they like to involve supporters in their work, offering tours of their headquarters, events, and volunteer opportunities. Keep an eye on their site for future opportunities.
About that rebranding…
When the American Refugee Committee first announced they were changing their name to Alight, I thought they were nuts. “American Refugee Committee” clearly says something about their work (“We work with the displaced”). “Alight” could mean anything. And they owned American Refugee Committee online. Google those three words, and they come up. It’s a lot more difficult to dominate search engines with the name Alight.
But Alight had a good reason for changing their name: their customers. The people they serve don’t want the focus to be on their status as refugees. The new name refers to two meanings of the word “alight” — shining brightly and landing gently.
When they rolled out the new brand, I was impressed. Everything — from the new name to the design to the messaging — works together to portray an organization that is vibrant, optimistic, customer-centered, and forward-thinking. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a branding campaign that has moved me as much as this has. And while they may not own the top slot on the search engines, when I search for “Alight,” they are coming up on the first page of results.
Well done, Alight.