The 5P Framework distils what Comotion has learned about how social change (i.e. shifts in the world around us) actually happens, and turns it into a practical tool that helps individuals and organisations move from intent to impact (i.e. wanting to drive change versus playing an active role in it):

Purpose: what you stand for and why it matters

Power: the influence you hold and how you can use it

Presence: how you show up, speak up and shape the conversation

Partnerships: the relationships and networks that can amplify your impact

Practice: the everyday actions that turn your intentions into impact

Where did it come from?

Despite what your newsfeed might suggest, most people are well-intentioned and want to do more in their communities and around the issues they care about. However, few feel confident in how to do it. That gap between intention and impact is where Comotion has worked for more than a decade.

Across global health policy, feminist movement-building, philanthropy strategy, corporate purpose, narrative change campaigns and multi-country organising efforts, we have spent decades supporting leaders, activists, funders, and organisations to shift culture, build movements, and influence systems. Our work spans diverse political and cultural contexts, from community-led health movements in Africa to gender justice coalitions in South Asia, to philanthropic reforms in Europe and North America, to narrative-power initiatives spanning Latin America and the Middle East. Through these experiences, we have developed a nuanced understanding of how structural forces (inequality, colonial legacies, concentrated wealth, gendered labour and digital information ecosystems) shape the condition for change. We bring this understanding into every engagement, helping partners navigate complexity and design strategies grounded in both local realities and global insight. 

The 5P Framework distills what we learned into five pillars that shape social change: Purpose, Power, Presence, Partnerships, Practice. 

Individually, each P describes a dimension of social change. Together, they create a roadmap for how change actually happens.

This framework underpins our strategic client services and provides a model to help individuals and organisations move from intention to impact.

Purpose

Your why

Purpose is the grounding for meaningful action. For businesses, your purpose is your authentic reason for existing beyond profit, expressed through your values and strategic ambitions

For those whose work is focused on social impact, it provides a strategic compass, directing programmes, advocacy and communications to deliver social outcomes. Purpose should be woven into the fabric of your organisation, embedded in the systems, policies and practices that underpin your every day work.

Purpose is shaped by lived experience: the injustices you’ve witnessed and the values that ground you, and the commitments shaped by community, lineage, and traditions. For many communities globally, purpose is also collective — rooted in the responsibility we have to generations before and after us. When your ‘purpose’ is clear, your direction becomes clearer, decisions become easier, and your impact (both from a results standpoint and in the relationships you cultivate with stakeholders) is far, far greater.

The alignment between personal values, organisational identity, and real-world impact becomes your North Star, ensuring every action and decision is grounded in intention.

How we work with clients on Purpose

We help clients clarify their purpose by uncovering their core values, moral ambitions and strategic priorities. Through workshops, audits and guided reflection, we support leaders and teams to articulate a purpose that aligns personal values, organisational identity, and long-term goals. We then translate this into strategic guardrails, messaging, and decision-making frameworks so that purpose becomes embedded across operations, culture, and communications.

Power

The influence you hold — and how you use it.

Power is the influence you hold and the ways you use it to shape your environment. It is your ability to influence decisions, mobilise networks and shift practices. It flows through relationships, credibility, networks, access, decision-making, lived experience, and the roles we play in our communities and workplaces.

Power becomes meaningful when leaders understand where they sit within a system and how their decisions ripple outward. Mapping this ecosystem reveals where influence already exists and where it can be strengthened or redirected.

We understand and talk about power across four dimensions:

Resource power — spending and investment influence

Reputational power — voice, reach, platforms and expertise

Relational power — networks and trust relationships

Positional power — decision-making and policy influence

How we work with clients on Power

We guide clients through  power-mapping to identify their influence ecosystem — including their positional, relational, reputational and resource power. Together, we identify  leverage points where small decisions can create disproportionate ripple effects across policy, culture, or industry norms. We also help clients understand how structural forces (gender inequities, racial hierarchies, extractive economies) shape who holds power and who is denied it. From there we analyse purchasing, partnerships, platforms, internal policies, and external messaging to ensure power is used intentionally, responsibly, and in ways that advance both social outcomes and organisational goals.

Presence

How you show up — in your voice, your narrative, your visibility.

Presence is the outward expression of your purpose and power. It is the way people experience you: your tone, clarity, honesty, confidence. Presence is shaped by the stories you tell, the language you choose, the courage with which you communicate, and the choices you make about where and how you show up. In a world saturated with misinformation and AI produced content, authenticity is fundamental to your personal or organisational brand. People trust what feels human. 

Presence can be bold, quiet, collective or disruptive. Some people lead quietly. Some lead publicly. What matters is that your presence aligns with your values and serves the change you want to make. 

How we work with clients on Presence

We work closely with clients to develop a clear, authentic leadership voice and a narrative strategy anchored in their purpose and influence.Through diagnostics, message refinement, platform strategy, and storytelling exercises, we help clients show up consistently and credibly across all their touchpoints.

Partnerships

Why no one changes the world alone.

Real change doesn’t happen in isolation. The most powerful social movements throughout history have been built on partnerships between individuals, communities, and grassroots organisations doing the hard work on the ground. Partnerships expand your reach, deepen your legitimacy, and connect your efforts to work already happening.

Partnerships expand what becomes possible. A strategic supplier choice can shift an entire supply chain. A partnership with a movement organisation can strengthen legitimacy and deepen impact. Collaboration with peers can move industry norms faster than any single organisation acting alone.

How we work with clients on Partnerships

We support clients to map their relationship ecosystem — customers, suppliers, industry peers, movement partners, community organisations, funders, and policymakers — and identify where collaboration can deepen impact. Our work helps them build authentic, non-extractive partnerships that expand legitimacy, amplify reach, and accelerate progress. Depending on need, this includes stakeholder analysis, partnership strategy, coalition design, movement alignment, and opportunities for shared campaigns or collective action that move entire industries or systems.

Practice

How change becomes habit — and habits become culture.

Practice transforms your purpose, power, presence, and partnerships into clear action pathways. It is the art of integrating your values into the fabric of your  organisation, its operations, culture, policies, decisions, and relationships. Progressive businesses attract better talent, create stronger customer loyalty, and can move markets.

Practice is  the actions and behaviours that turn your values and intention into policy, culture and impact. It is the accumulation of, often, small, repeatable actions: the conversations you choose to have, the news you choose to engage with, the accounts you follow, the boundaries you draw, the choices you make about where to buy, hire, commission, and invest. Over time, these practices create credibility, trust, and influence — the conditions under which social change can take root.

How we work with clients on Practice

We help clients identify the practice pathways that align with their values and ambitions: internal culture-building, supplier standards, policy advocacy, community engagement, innovation, industry leadership, or collaborative action. We support them to set meaningful goals, build accountability structures, and embed these practices across operations and culture.

How We Apply the 5Ps With Clients

The 5Ps are an interconnected framework — a model, a theory of change for how social progress happens. Each P strengthens the others. 

Purpose grounds your work.

Power shapes where and how you can act.

Presence communicates your commitments and builds trust.

Partnerships extend your reach and legitimacy.

Practice makes it all real and repeatable.

When all five are present, people and organisations carry a coherence that others recognise. They become easier to trust, easier to follow, and easier to learn from because their actions, words, decisions, and commitments align. The framework is the starting point. Each P opens into a much wider landscape of research, practice, theory, and lived expertise: from behavioural science and feminist leadership to community organising and narrative strategy. 

Our Approach

Working with the 5P Framework is practical exercise, entirely bespoke to each leader or organisation. Through our audit tool, workshops, coaching, and strategic programmes, we guide clients through a structured journey:

Purpose — excavating their values, injustice moments, issue alignment, and authentic voice until they can articulate a purpose grounded in truth rather than marketing. Power — mapping their influence ecosystem and identifying leverage points where their decisions can create meaningful ripple effects. Presence — developing an authentic leadership voice and narrative strategy that builds trust and strengthens their market and movement positioning. Partnerships — identifying strategic allies, movement partners, and industry collaborators who can amplify their work and deepen their impact. Practice — embedding values into operations, policies, communications, accountability systems, and daily behaviours that make their commitments real.

This is how people and organisations move from intention to impact: with clarity, coherence, and a strategy that honours both purpose and possibility.