Ken Huey 0:00

Welcome to The Voice of Hope, where bold leaders and healers share how they're building hope, not just talking about it. I'm Dr. Ken Huey. Let's meet the change makers transforming lives from the therapy room to the boardroom. Welcome to today's episode of The Voice of Hope. We have here today Zeechan Ali, a nonprofit executive, civic leader, and member of the Chicago Mayor's Advisory Council on LGBTQ affairs. Throughout his career, he's focused on building organizations that help people move from crisis to resilience through trauma-informed leadership, community partnership, and systems change. Zean, thank you for hanging out with us.

Zeeshan Ali 0:41

Thanks, Ken. Nice to meet you. You know, it's lovely to be here today. Absolutely.

Ken Huey 0:46

All right, I'm always fascinated to know how people land where they are. What inspired you to work in nonprofit leadership, supporting survivors of gender-based violence and everything that you do?

Zeeshan Ali 0:56

So growing up, I was always fascinated by why people behave the way they do. So, not because I was judging them or anything of malice. I was just so intrigued by it. So I wanted to understand human behavior. That curiosity led me into behavior analysis. After undergrad, I had a lot of experience in youth development. I eventually then went to grad school for behavior analysis. And my next most logical step after being in the world of clinical behavior analysis was okay, how do I help larger systems? And that led me to nonprofit. And that eventually led me to nonprofit leadership. I realized that behind almost every crisis situation, there's a human story. So today my work isn't about just like the operations of an organization. It's about helping the environments. And that that's strictly from my behavior analytic background, changing the environment so we can change behavior, so people can feel safe, they can heal, they can grow, and they can imagine like a different life, a better life.

Ken Huey 2:06

All right. If we could tell me a little bit about survivors, what challenges do they face when they're trying to rebuild their lives from the kinds of violence that you see?

Zeeshan Ali 2:17

Yeah, so you I think you hit the nail on the head. It's not just about the violence. Leaving the abusive situation is just the first step. It's rarely the final step. They survivors have to rebuild housing, their finances, their careers, their identity, community, and most of all, trust in other humans because someone very close to them harmed them, hurt them. And it's happening all at once. Most of us have a lifetime to build that trust, a lifetime to go through different phases and challenges. But survivors, as soon as they leave that abusive environment, have to do almost everything instantaneously. That takes a lot of energy. That trauma changes how they see themselves. And healing, as we all know, takes a lot more time, a lot more than just services. It takes consistent relationships, community around you, and opportunities to have control over your environment. All right.

Ken Huey 3:21

How does your background in behavior analysis influence your approach to this work?

Zeeshan Ali 3:28

Well, I think I it gives me a little bit of an edge because I understand that environment has a lot of influence on one's behavior. We're talking about internal environments within your mind, and then external environments outside of your mind. And in behavior analysis, we're taught really well to have enrich environments, how to change small little things to change behavioral outcomes. So you can teach people how they can manage their own environment, whether it's internal, so like mind ship and like how they're thinking or how their present physical environment is, so that way they can have better outcomes. If a person is living, let's say, in a cluttered environment because that is what they grew up in, or that is the abusive situation that they were in, if we can send support workers in to help clean up that environment or help move them to a different environment that doesn't have the same triggers, the catalyst events that would lead them to the same type of behaviors, that is helpful because then they can work on other things like shaping how they think about their situation and how they go about their lives.

Ken Huey 4:44

How can organizations better create safe and empowering environments for survivors?

Zeeshan Ali 4:51

So I think organizations have to think of safety in three different levels: it's physical safety, it's emotional safety, and psychological safety. So I kind of joke as like it's where it's your body feeling safe, your heart feeling safe, and your mind feeling safe. People need all three. That means that leaders need to listen and they need to work with the cultures where people come from. They need to help without any fear. And the systems are usually designed around human dignity rather than bureaucracy. So you got to cut down a lot of the red tape that someone who has a traumatic experience has to go through because that might just re-trigger them. Asking the survivor to share their story a million times just to get services like Snap benefits or some type of assistant programs for rental rent or housing, that is just getting them back in that same psychological environment that they were just trying to escape. So share the story once and then share the staff, need to share it across them, across each other, so the survivor doesn't have to keep retelling, re-experiencing that mental environment that they were in. Tell me a little bit about holistic support. You speak about this a lot. What does it look like in real life? Oh, holistic support, it looks different for everyone. It's about individualized care. It's recognizing that not every person needs the same type of services or resources. It's making sure that it is aligned to what will benefit them. For example, someone may need housing. If you don't have a safe, stable environment to live in, you may need mental health support, right? So different levels. Some people are extremely resilient and they're like, I'm strong, I can do this, I can go off into the world and I'll I will be fine. And some need extra support, like they need to talk to a therapist or a counselor or an advocate. Many survivors of domestic violence, many survivors of violence in general need legal advocacy. They need medical care, they need employment services, community, connection, and hope. So it's finding the pieces that the person needs and curating it for that one individual. The goal isn't just stabilizing their life, it's helping them to be excited to live again.

Ken Huey 7:19

All right. Talk a little bit about common misconceptions. Really, I think people don't necessarily understand what we're talking about when we say domestic or gender-based violence. Speak to us about that.

Zeeshan Ali 7:31

So I think most people think that domestic violence or gender-based violence is just physical, right? Someone hits another person and then that's it, like beats them into submission type of situation. But in reality, it often involves so much more emotional abuse, financial control, isolation, and manipulation, right? So again, this perpetrator of violence, the the person that they are escaping from, is changing that environment so that way this person does not exhibit behaviors of independence, does not exhibit behaviors of being strong and resilient. It's to cut down every single layer that they need that they would typically engage in. Another misconception a lot of people have is people always ask, why didn't they leave? But a better question is, what barriers made it so difficult to leave? If someone is controlling your finances, they have everyone in the environment or in the community that you live in believing in the image that they are portraying about you or about themselves, like they might be some really respected person in the community. And the wife is just a housewife and they don't do anything. I provide everything for her, I provide all this, the resources, access, blah, blah, blah. But in behind closed doors, the wife doesn't have access to her checking account, savings account, does not have money to herself. The kids are forced to be in a lot of activity so that they're not even engaging with their mother. So you have to think about what barriers outside of what just what you're seeing are. And everyone can be affected by domestic violence or gender-based violence. It has no socioeconomic status related to it, no culture, no, not even gender, you know, like any gender can be affected by it. So changing the question changes how we support people. If we ask what barriers there are, then we can kind of break it apart and see what the nuances are of the situation.

Ken Huey 9:40

Zhaun, this is fairly heavy space. Like there's a lot, there's a lot that could sort of weigh on you. What do you do to find hope when you're working in this space?

Zeeshan Ali 9:52

Seeing people change, seeing people live fully as themselves, I think that gives me inspiration. That gives me the hope. It ties back to my culture, my core belief. I'm Ismaili Muslim, I'm Pakistani, I'm queer. I've been through a lot of these situations. And also as someone that's living through health challenges, it told me it kind of taught me hope isn't optimism, it's a decision. It's choosing to invest in the people, even when it's slow, choosing to invest in people when progress is slow. Like you can watch survivors rebuild remarkable lives. My own cousin has gone through this. She, you know, was in a very terrible marriage, very terrible physical violence situation. And now, a decade or so later, she has a beautiful family with her other husband. Her kids are successful. She herself is in like a nurse and a baker and has all these interests. All that was gone. And that story, and that's just one story out of many that I can give you that gives me hope that people can overcome this situation and time can heal. I've seen communities come together around people, rally around the person. And I'm not just talking about rallying around the survivor domestic violence or gender-based violence. People rally around the perpetrator, too, because if you think about the perpetrator violence, it may be that they engage in these behaviors because of their own environment, right? So if a community can rally around and say, okay, we this is not acceptable. We need to uplift our own people, and we need to change these behaviors. You can see perpetrators of violence also do dramatic changes and like grow and learn to react differently, behave differently, connect differently, other than using violence.

Ken Huey 12:01

Okay, so somebody's listening right now and wants to support this cause, they want to help. What's one action they could take that would be helpful, Zhan?

Zeeshan Ali 12:10

I think the most important action is believing in people. When someone shares their story, just listen without judgment. And to further yourself, learn about the local resources that that person would need. Someone you love might need them. Again, gender-based violence affects all of us in different degrees in different ways. And knowing these resources might save someone's life. And remember that small acts of compassion also become turning points in someone's life. Bringing them a meal, going for a walk with them to listen to what is troubling them, making sure that they know that they have a voice and that someone is going to listen to that voice.

Ken Huey 12:54

Zhan, you're at the forefront of those that are trying very hard to bring light and love and carrying a connection. Thank you for the time that you've spent with us sharing what you do. Really grateful.

Zeeshan Ali 13:07

Thank you, Ken. I appreciate you inviting me to this podcast. It was a great experience.

Ken Huey 13:12

Thanks for joining us on The Voice of Hope. If you were inspired, share the light. And remember, hope's not just a feeling, it's a force. We'll see you next time.