ecolise –organisational culture & policy
ECOLISE is a European network of community-led initiatives working toward ecological and social transformation. During a period of significant organisational change, I was commissioned to redesign their internal people policies from the ground up.
the work
Working closely with the Co-Director, I developed the People Care Manual — a comprehensive suite of radical, non-punitive policies covering wellbeing, equity, diversity and inclusion, and restorative disciplinary approaches. The manual was built from deep listening within the organisation, translating ECOLISE's core values into living, workable policy.
The People Care Manual has become a benchmark document in the environmental NGO sector.
the approach
I started not with policies but with people. Before writing a single line I spent time understanding what ECOLISE actually valued — not what it said it valued, but what its culture revealed when you looked closely. The manual that emerged was built around transformative justice principles — a framework that moves away from punishment toward accountability, healing and genuine culture change. This meant writing policies that most organisations wouldn't dare write: non-punitive disciplinary approaches, restorative conflict processes, radical wellbeing commitments.
The added complexity was that ECOLISE operates as a fully remote, internationally distributed team — which means culture isn't held together by physical proximity. It has to be built into language, process and shared agreements. That's what the People Care Manual is.
"Alicia helped our organisation to write a set of internal policies that are values based and human centered. She approached the work with curiosity, proactivity, good questions and careful listening. She demonstrated a true desire to understand our context and to craft a fitting and strategic communications style. She paid great attention to choices in design, language and terms that are representative and coherent with our organisational identity and values. Besides providing high quality outcomes, Alicia was an exceptionally heartful and pleasant colleague to work with."
– Pauliina Helle, Co-director, ECOLISE