For organizations working toward social change, identity is not only about knowing who they are. It is about staying conscious of who they are while navigating the demands, expectations, and realities around them. This idea shaped the CSO Identity Construction Workshop, held from 22 to 24 July 2026 at the EASUN Centre in Arusha, Tanzania. The workshop brought together 25 civil society leaders from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to reflect on a central question: How do organizations remain true to themselves while responding meaningfully to changing environments?
The journey began with a simple but meaningful invitation: the Naming Ceremony. Participants each chose something in nature that inspired them and shared what drew them to it. As they listened to one another, they began to connect as a group and glimpse how each person understood and made meaning of the world. For the rest of the workshop, these nature-inspired discoveries became their names. What first appeared to be a creative opening activity soon became an early reflection on identity and on how people understand themselves through meaning, relationships, and the stories they carry.
As the workshop unfolded, participants explored identity not as something fixed, but as something continuously shaped and renewed through practice. They reflected on the realities facing many civil society organizations: the need to remain faithful to their ethos and integrity while responding to stakeholder expectations, funding conditions, partnerships, and shifting social realities. This tension became central to the discussion.
On one side was the desire to protect organizational ethos, values, convictions, and purpose. On the other were the legitimate expectations and conditions emerging from stakeholders and the wider environment. The conversation showed that neither side can be ignored. An organization that looks only inward may lose touch with reality. One that responds only to external pressure may lose the identity that gives its work meaning. The goal, therefore, was not to remove the tension but to engage it consciously. Participants imagined organizations as reflective learning spaces that live out their mission and values while listening, adapting, and evolving without losing themselves.
Participants also named a risk to avoid: gradually becoming compliant under external pressure. When adaptation turns into accommodation, the pursuit of approval can slowly weaken an organization’s original purpose. A reflection from Kamau Mwangi of Amani Community Africa captured the spirit of the workshop:
“We often think identity is something we arrive with, fully formed. I was reminded that it is something we keep discovering in community, in reflection, and in small, unguarded moments like this one.”
This insight applies to both individuals and organizations. Identity is not created once and preserved unchanged. It is continually discovered through reflection, dialogue, and the choices organizations make when facing competing demands. Like the natural systems participants reflected on during the naming ceremony, healthy organizations survive through balance, adaptation, and interconnectedness. They do not endure by resisting all change or by changing without direction. They endure by maintaining coherence while responding to their environment. The deeper invitation of identity construction is not to find a final answer to “Who are we?” It is to keep engaging the question honestly, collectively, and consciously as organizations continue becoming.