Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 02

March/April 2018 // Canadian Government Executive / 9 Game changer equality is one of the flagship topics that we featured in numerous policies and pro- grams. We track this critical issue around the world with analysis, overviews and trends. We also host a community of pub- lic servants around the world working on gender equality to share what they’re learning. So, there’s plenty to find on this topic on Apolitical. Q: With these priorities in mind that our government has – for example, gender equality and the reconciliation with indigenous communities – how can Apolitical help to move these along? RS: We help accelerate policy change in two fundamental ways. We make it easy to find the best ideas wherever they are in the world, and then to speak to the people who’ve made these ideas happen. This is crucial as ideas often fail at the implemen- tation stage and talking to someone who’s been there before helps a lot. We also think it’s important to showcase what’s working to the general public as this helps build trust in and support for government work. We do this around gender a great deal already and are start-to cover innovative work around indigenous communities. Q: Some of the key areas of focus for public service in Canada are the reconciliation with indigenous Canadians, income equality, and pay equity and gender equality. What’s your perspective? Lisa Witter: International Women’s Day is something we think a lot about at Apo- litical. We not only think about it because the issue is important to us, but it’s an is- sue that as Robyn and I were founding the company, came up as a vital topic for governments around the world. But not only from the perspective of fulfilling rights provided either in constitutions or legislation, but also because governments see this as an important factor for GDP growth. We’ve been proud to partner with a public-private partnership in Australia to do some in-depth reporting on what’s working with gender equality. One of the things that is quite important to us is to focus on what is working to solve prob- lems instead of focusing on the problems. We took International Women’s Day to highlight some real innovations going on around the world on gender equality. Q: Are there any lessons that you can share with our readers? LW: A big lesson that we’re learning that works, and is particularly effective in Ab- original communities, in Australia is more of a way to do policy versus an outcome of policy. One of the trends we’re seeing is co-designing policy and practice with the communities itself. So that’s more of a collaborative policy process. Some other processes on the other end of the spec- trum that seem to be working are what we would like to call blunt force policies. These are hard edge policies that look at just solving the problem. Q: Can you comment on some of the initiatives that you’re work- ing on in Canada and how does Canada rate as compared to other countries? LW: There’s no doubt that Canada is lead- ing the way on gender rights. I think part of that comes from the very top with Prime Minister Trudeau making significant state- ments like calling himself a feminist. Throughout government, this topic is be- ing seen and talked about as a big priority. Concerning rankings, Canada seems to be trailblazing in lots of different ways around gender. One example: Canada has recently issued a feminist foreign policy, which is no small thing. Consider the role of women and peace, women and foreign policy and women and development. Ministers in Canada have been very for- ward thinking and not just because it’s a feminist perspective, but they see it as an effective perspective. Canada is making a mark by saying, this is important to us. Q: What does the future look like for Apolitical? RS: We are hugely ambitious with Apo- litical. We want to put the best ideas at the fingertips of public service anywhere in the world, whether they in a rich country or a poor country, whether they’re tackling cities policy or inclusive growth. We want to make it possible for everyone to find what’s work- ing, and in doing so, we want to save the tax- payers a huge amount of money and create a tremendous amount of value for society. We also want to change the perception of government for the general public to show that there are great things happen- ing everywhere and to build support for these great things. Lisa Witter Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Apolitical