People act together to change their situation for the better (more..)

Why Krata
Thinktanks are mainly based in London and focused on influencing decision makers on policy. Krata is based in the North and focuses on working directly with communities of interest, exploring and influencing behaviour. We seek to engage people creatively, using humour, interactivity and multimedia, to break up the often stale lines of communication between groups and individuals.

The underlying theme that runs though all our projects is an exploration of power dynamics: how an individual feels empowered to take action to change their situation, how individuals feel empowered as representatives of institutions and how institutions as entities affect people's ability to act on their own initiative. We are interested in the state(s) of mind that enable or disable action.

Who
Jessica Symons, Director
Jessica works on projects around social and environmental sustainability. She runs community engagement projects on social and environmental sustainability and draws out the learning to consider the implications of social control, particularly in relation to empowerment. She is interested in power dynamics and how an individual feels empowered, how that changes when the individual represents an institution or organisation and how organisations prohibit or affect individuals' ability to change their situation, often inadvertently.

Most recently, Jessica has worked on projects with local residents in Chorlton, supporting a social entrepreneur to set up a community cafe, identifying barriers to healthy eating and raising awareness of social enterprises, in some cases using film and other multimedia as a form of creative engagement. She also runs the Oneless project, a social enterprise producing and wholesaling an alternative to plastic bags. A project in development, 'Post-oil Futures', will explore people's imagining of life after oil has run out, working through community workshops and Second Life. Jessica is a Common Purpose graduate, runs thinkingwomen, a women's network and until recently was Non-Executive Director of Ethical Consumer. She has also worked as Knowledge Manager at Demos, with Manchester Community Information Network (MCIN) as Partnership Manager and as a business analysis consultant focusing on web and multimedia solutions. She has a first class degree in Ancient World from UCL and a MA with distinction in Social Anthropology from Manchester University.

Gaby Porter, Krata Associate
Gaby works with a wide range of cultural organisations to support organisational learning and change; teambuilding and leadership development; partnership working; and network development. She has contributed to national policy and programme development and guidance. She also works with organisations, teams and individuals to clarify their vision and values and to translate these into realistic programmes. She encourages cross-team working, collaboration and creative community. She is Assistant Director of the Museum Leadership Programme at the University of East Anglia, and is currently working on a network development programme for women museum leaders.

Want to become part of Krata? Email us

Where
Krata takes the 'local to global' matra seriously. We are physically based in Chorlton and Manchester so our focus is on Chorlton, Manchester, Greater Manchester and the North West, but the issues we consider are national and indeed international.

What
Krata means 'feminine power' in Ancient Greek, its male form kratus is more commonly known as the '-cracy' of democracy - power (kratus) to the people (demos). Krata draws on the feminine in a similar way to the Yin of Chinese Yin and Yang, and on the notion of the 'soft power' of co-operation rather than 'hard power' of confrontation. It emphasises the importance of collaboration, facilitation, warmth, humour and empathy. This emphasis shapes how Krata engages with others.