Sustainable social change occurs at the last mile of trust when frontline facilitators translate institutional Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) goals into lived community experiences informed by connection, empathy, and dialogue. The study examines how Local Government Area Field Supervisors (LFS) and Women Affinity Group Supervising Officers (WAGSO) in exercise relational leadership to foster trust and collective action for social change in the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) six implementing states. Using the data collected from a cross-sectional survey (n = 3,249) and 36 qualitative interviews across the six pilot states to capture both behavioral shifts and the relational processes driving them. Findings show that the strongest normative and behavioral changes include men drafting wills to include daughters, couples co-registering land, and women amplified voices in the community which occurred where facilitators successfully created high-trust environments through storytelling, peer learning, and structured reflection.
Nevertheless, the facilitator capacity varied; gaps in mentorship, and extensive field schedules impacted the groups' cohesion and quality of dialogue. The results emphasize the significance of frontline relational leaders to transforming SBC interventions into impactful community-owned change. Important considerations for the upscaling of SBC programs are mentorship, feedback loops for facilitators, and formalization of facilitators as co-producers of community knowledge (not just field staff). Centering on facilitators' experiences, the study emphasizes a mutual replication of relational practices as an essential priority for generating sustainable equitable community-led change at scale.
Sustainable social change occurs at the last mile of trust when frontline facilitators translate institutional Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) goals into lived community experiences informed by connection, empathy, and dialogue. The study examines how Local Government Area Field Supervisors (LFS) and Women Affinity Group Supervising Officers (WAGSO) in exercise relational leadership to foster trust and collective action for social change in the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) six implementing states. Using the data collected from a cross-sectional survey (n = 3,249) and 36 qualitative interviews across the six pilot states to capture both behavioral shifts and the relational processes driving them. Findings show that the strongest normative and behavioral changes include men drafting wills to include daughters, couples co-registering land, and women amplified voices in the community which occurred where facilitators successfully created high-trust environments through storytelling, peer learning, and structured reflection.
Nevertheless, the facilitator capacity varied; gaps in mentorship, and extensive field schedules impacted the groups' cohesion and quality of dialogue. The results emphasize the significance of frontline relational leaders to transforming SBC interventions into impactful community-owned change. Important considerations for the upscaling of SBC programs are mentorship, feedback loops for facilitators, and formalization of facilitators as co-producers of community knowledge (not just field staff). Centering on facilitators' experiences, the study emphasizes a mutual replication of relational practices as an essential priority for generating sustainable equitable community-led change at scale.
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