What we do
La Sobremesa is a consultancy that facilitates reflection and learning processes for civil society in Latin America. We provide accompaniment, facilitate spaces and share tools.
What do we work on?
We created La Sobremesa to address problems that we see over and over again in civil society: we do a lot with very little, with timelines that are imposed on us, making it hard to stop and take stock.
Given this pressure that civil society has to deal with - from donors, colleagues and counterparts - organizations and the people in them need a moment to pause, to reflect and learn. It’s always better to do this in community, with good company, at La Sobremesa.
At La Sobremesa we want a strong, resilient and innovative civil society, whose leaders, organizations and networks have everything they need to be able to focus on creating a positive impact in Latin America.
To do this, we create learning spaces, identify tools for transformation and provide direct support for organizations and civil society leaders in Latin America, so that they can generate the impact they seek in innovative, healthy and unique ways.
In many Latin American countries, a “sobremesa” is the moment after a meal in which we deepen our conversation, often over dessert, coffee or a drink of choice. It is an open space full of important conversations. The moment can be relaxed or provoke intense discussions – but it’s always a collective space, full of trust.
How do we work?
We are a group of designers and facilitators of processes. We work together with civil society organizations to better understand the roots of their challenges, generate ideas, and experiment with solutions.
- We want a healthy and resilient civil society with trust at all levels - between donors and the organizations they support, between members of networks and coalitions, and between people on a team.
- We lead with empathy, with the openness and vulnerability required to generate the necessary trust, and are inspired by feminist values and practices.
- We openly and honestly discuss the power dynamics at play in our relationships, in order to transform them.
- We keep people at the center of our conversations and believe that everyone can benefit from time to think and rethink.
- We believe that reflection and learning processes are just as important as final products.
- We facilitate processes that adapt to you, your context and your challenges, while pushing you out of your comfort zone.
