Burnout Aid

Every day, we witness the vital role that foundations, associations, and informal movements play in the development of civil society, fostering a sense of community, fulfilling the educational mission, and supporting those in need.
Since we’ve spent years working in the third sector in our countries, we are aware of what the reality of educational and activist work in NGOs looks like. We knew that educators and activists put a lot of effort in such work and commitment and this often leads to burnout. However, we had no idea just how widespread this phenomenon was, and the knowledge available about its causes and effects was fragmented and unstructured.
Therefore, our first step was research. We did desk research and in-depth interviews with local teams of organizations (including employees, volunteers, and leaders) operating in environments that require exceptional commitment in Poland, Croatia, and Slovenia. We also interviewed female experts from these three countries. We gained insight into the organizational, financial, and emotional difficulties linked to work in the third sector. A lack of support in crisis, management problems, a lack of supervision, or shifting the responsibility for burnout onto individuals are just some of the challenges NGO workers and teams have to face.
We structured the collected information, which allowed us to assess the scale of the problem, identify its causes and effects both on organizations and individuals. We launched the Burnout Aid portal where we gathered knowledge about professional and activist burnout, along with educational materials and specific tools to help recognize, prevent, and counteract burnout, including a test to assess burnout risk for teams, employees and activists.
 

• Desk research and qualitative study
  An international study that provided a detailed picture of the causes, scale, and effects of the problem – both on individuals and organizations.
• Online platform
  A platform that contains structured knowledge about burnout and suggestions for remedial methods. It also includes a test measuring the level of burnout in NGOs and tools to prevent and counteract this phenomenon.
• Inspiring videos
  A series of videos on professional and activist burnout containing inspirations and answers on how to cope with it. They are aimed both at employees and NGO leaders.
• Workshop scenarios
  Tools to recognize and prevent burnout that help you cope with this phenomenon. They were designed for educators working with NGOs.

   

Culture Shock Foundation (Poland)

City of Women (Slovenia)

Common Zone (Croatia)

Culture Shock Foundation (Poland):

Paulina Jędrzejewska
Co-founder and CEO of the Culture Shock Foundation, mentor, coach, sociologist, and manager. She supports social organisations and teams from public institutions in the process of implementing wellbeing changes, while also showing them how to use technology wisely. Co-author of research, publications, and educational materials on professional burnout, mental resilience, and many more. She co-creates cross-disciplinary events combining new media, education, and art.

Piotr Grabowski
Co-founder of the Culture Shock Foundation, lawyer.

Karolina Pluta
Mentor, expert in supporting cultural sector professionals and coach. She runs workshops, creative processes and individual sessions. She is familiar with professional burnout prevention, mediation in teams from cultural institutions and implementation of social and artistic projects. She is a member of the Theatre Pedagogues’ Association and the Culture Shock Foundation. She creates publications, research and recommendations for institutions and NGOs.

Maciej Turczyniak
An archaeologist by education, and a programmer by passion and profession. He has been involved for many years with NGOs in the cultural sector. Enthusiast of the Open Source. When not programming, he works on digital retouching and preparing photos for print.

Wacław Marat
Artist, designer, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (2015). Artysta, projektant, absolwent ASP w Warszawie (2015 r). He balances his work at an advertising agency with designing books, illustrations and animated films.

Agnieszka Głód

City of Women (Slovenia):

Urška Jež 
She has been cooperating with City of Women since 2006. Chairwoman of the board since 2014. She worked together with several non-governmental organizations as an organizer, producer, international project administrator, and volunteer coordinator. She also volunteers as an activity leader at summer youth camps.

Ana Čigon 
Artist working with video, film, performance, and new media. Her projects address social and feminist issues such as the underrepresentation of female artists in art history, collective memory, invisible social groups, the relationship between the individual and society, and the pursuit of happiness. Recipient of several awards.

Tjaša Hauptman  
MA psychology student. She is an active member of the Association of Psychology Students (DŠPS), where she works on various projects and runs workshops. She is also a local coordinator of the EFPA Mind to Mind - to Combat the Stigma of Mental Disorders campaign. Bookworm and sea lover.

Andreja Petrovčič 
She holds an MA degree in psychology and is currently a trainee psychologist at the Izola Institute of Clinical Psychology. Her previous projects and research focused on health promotion, sport and recreation psychology, and organizational psychology. Enthusiast of sports and nature.

Urška Lipovž 
Sociologist and LGBTQ activist. She has been working together with City of Women since 2020. Member of the Lesbian Quarter collective that organizes an annual festival under the same name.

Common Zone (Croatia):

Gabrijela Ivanov 
A computer scientist by education, and an activist by calling — focused on independent media, culture, and gender equality. Founder of the social enterprises VoxFeminae.net and Fierce-Women.net. Currently undergoing professional training in Transactional Analysis.

Marina Milković  
A psychologist who worked mainly in the social care system. She cooperated with different non-governmental organizations, running workshops and providing psychological support. She contributed to research on the LGBT+ community. Educated in cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques.