#80: What Are You Willing to See? Disruption, Fault Lines, and the Moments That Matter

In this episode, Joy Anderson reframes one of the most common narratives in moments of crisis: instead of asking how to stabilize and return to normal, she asks what disruption makes visible. Building on earlier conversations about systems opportunities, she distinguishes between disruptive events and the deeper structural patterns they expose, and highlights how moments of volatility can make long-standing dynamics of power, risk, and inequity harder to ignore.

The episode opens with a conversation with Rachel Sinha, a systems change practitioner and field builder, as the two explore the tensions inherent in building a field, from questions of legitimacy and power to who gets resourced and recognized. From there, Joy connects these themes to Criterion’s work on gender-based violence, feminist finance, and local capital, showing how disruption can reveal hidden costs and overlooked actors within financial systems. The episode ultimately challenges listeners to treat disruption as evidence and invites them to see systems more clearly and act with greater readiness.

Episode Highlights

00:00 - Introduction to Systems Change and Disruption

02:49 - Building a Field of Systems Change Practice

06:05 - Power Dynamics in Systems Change

09:05 - Understanding Systems Opportunities

11:47 - Disruption as Revelation

15:09 - Examples of Systems Opportunities

18:00 - Responding to Disruption

20:51 - The Role of Communities in Systems Change

23:58 - Conclusion and Call to Action

Relevant Links

Criterion Institute Website and LinkedIn

Joy's LinkedIn

Rachel Sinha’s Linkedin

Dive Deeper

Framework for financing the prevention of gender-based violence

A systems-level framework that explains how financial structures, incentives, and norms influence the persistence of gender-based violence and how finance can be used to prevent it.

Fòs Feminista: Building Feminist Financial Infrastructure

A case study showing how a feminist intermediary designs and uses financial and non-financial assets to reshape capital flows and build long-term movement-led financial infrastructure.

Fostering a Feminist Financial Imagination: A Radical Conversation about Finance, Feminist Futures,…

A publication that explores how reimagining financial systems can unlock new strategies and possibilities for advancing gender equality and social justice.

Pacific Possibilities: Designing Better Financial Vehicles for the Pacific

A report that outlines how to design investment vehicles grounded in local economic and social realities, rather than forcing existing financial models onto communities.

Other episodes you might also like:

#75: When the Moment Arrives: Acting on Systems Opportunities

#78: Intermediation Is Not Overhead

#58: Check List or Trust List: Power, Performance, and the Politics of Procedure

#16: We Made This System Up, We Can Change It.

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