Finding a new solution to long-standing challenges.
Rachel’s journey with One World Together began when she was hired as a fundraising consultant to support strategy work. Over the course of the project, she realised that she “loves what they are doing” and thought that this model was absolutely “brilliant.”
Throughout her career she has been trying to unpack and understand how toxic traditional approaches to aid have been. For her, One World Together is an “important antidote to the colonial framework of International Development and Aid.” She strongly believes it is pioneering a method that “many more people should follow”. This is powerful for her, as she envisions a future where this approach “becomes our usual model of investing in people to make reparations for the damage that countries such as the UK have done in the world.”
To Rachel, the emphasis of “fixing what went wrong in the past,” is exactly why she feels so aligned with One World Together’s mission – as they are doing this work in a “new and better way.”
Give Differently. Make a Difference.
As a regular donor, Rachel says, “there’s nothing more fulfilling than knowing she’s part of something transformative.” Her drive to generate change that is sustainable, meaningful and instilled with hope – that’s the reason she gets up in the morning.
The world is heading towards a scary place. We can’t just sit back and watch, she says. Something has to change. As Rachel describes it, it needs to happen “sustainably yet fast”.
That’s why One World Together feels so meaningful to her. It’s not simply about giving — it’s about being part of a movement rooted in trust, solidarity, and the belief that even the smallest contributions can spark extraordinary change.
How trust changes everything
When asked about trust, she describes it as the “foundation of all giving. It is the lifeblood of any kind of relationship.” With everything that she has experienced in her career and personal life thus far, Rachel could talk for days about how crucial trust is.
An important point that she has learnt is that: “if anyone is going to give, they have to trust that their money is going to be used well.” Sounds obvious, right? But here’s the problem — too many institutional donors, like governments or foundations, don’t actually trust the organisations they work with. So what do they do? They set up onerous requirements and endless reporting systems, just to prove that the recipients are ‘worthy’ of the money.
But is that really a system designed to generate change? According to Rachel – Not really. “It sucks the life out of people who are trying to do good,” she says. They are so caught up in bureaucracy, there’s barely any time left to actually create impact,” she says.
And that’s exactly why trust-based giving, like the model One World Together is pioneering, is the way forward. When human connection and accountability come first – everything else follows. And as Rachel perfectly says “In today’s world where trust is being questioned at every step of the way – with large language models, generative AI and deepfakes – human connection and trust is more crucial than ever: in fact, it is all we have to rely on”
One of the most prominent and empowering ways we can put that trust into action is through giving — no matter the size of the contribution. Yet, a common counter argument often arises: small donations don’t make a difference.
Rachel had a valuable perspective on this topic, and says “our pound can be worth an enormous amount to someone in the Global South. It shouldn’t be that way. But it is. The pound is more than the exchange value it represents —it’s a statement. Like a vote.” Essentially – It’s me, it’s you, it’s everyone saying: “I am giving a tiny bit to be part of this movement.”
Just give
Rachel encourages us to pause and “Just imagine if a small proportion of the UK population — let’s say a million people — gave one pound a month”. Imagine the impact this collated money could make. How you may ask? Through the power of the collective.
And for those who are still unsure in the power of small donations – or might need a little nudge to donate. Well, Rachel’s advice is simple: “Give it. Give it to movements like One World Together, where they transform your so-called “small amount of money” through a new and better system.”
Feeling moved to join? Join One World Together’s Solidarity Fund today, where we fuel new possibilities, a new world – and change everything.
By Bryanna Ashong
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