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Webinar Archive.
Succession: Planning for Success.
Succession is a tricky subject that involves you, your Board, your staff, your donors and the people you serve. It involves money, emotion, and planning. Whether you are just starting out or your organisation is well established, the time to plan your succession is now! It’s never easy but planning ahead could save you, the organisation and the people you serve from heartache.
Monica Culen (Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees - Red Noses International) provides insights into her detailed approach to succession. Collince Dundo (Co-Founder & Interim CEO of Youth Initiative Development Programme) tells us why he believes transition and succession planning is a critical component of the sustainable impact of his young, vibrant organisation.
Wisdom Bank Launch Webinars.
We are delighted to announce the launch of our Wisdom Bank with two special webinars! We spoke to elders in the world of social entrepreneurship and younger social entrepreneurs who have already benefited from the wisdom passed on to them.
In the first webinar we speak to Mark Cheng (Founder and Managing Partner of Social Innovation Circle), Andrea Coleman (co-founder of Riders for Health and founder and CEO of Two Wheels for Life) and Wietse van der Werf (Founder and CEO of Sea Ranger Service). Both webinars feature a message specially recorded by Jeroo Billimoria (Founder of One Family Foundation and Chief Facilitator at Catalyst 2030).
In the second webinar we hear from Kathryn Hall-Trujillo (Founding Director of Birthing Project USA: The Underground Railroad for New Life), Valeria Duflot (Social Innovator – Entrepreneur, Advocate, Strategic Adviser and On-demand Leader) and Marc Freedman (President and CoCEO of CoGenerate).
Recognising trauma in ourselves and in our systems.
What does it mean to bring a trauma-informed lens to our work as social entrepreneurs? Why is it important to think about trauma not only at an individual level, but also a systemic level? What can we do about it?
Katherine Milligan (Director at the Collective Change Lab and previous Executive Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship) speaks to Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne (President of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement) and Tracey Chambers (Founder and CEO of Taking Care of Business and GROW Educare Centres) as they share their experiences and explore ideas in this vital discussion.
Who are you if you are not your organisation?
So much goes into founding an organisation, growing it, believing in it and sacrificing so much - not to mention the personal journey to adjust and remember who we are without the work. How much more if both you and your partner are going through the succession process at the same time?
We speak to Neelam Chhiber (Co-founder of Industree and Mother Earth) and Jacob Mathew (Advisor at Industree) about their succession journeys as individuals and as a couple.
In conversation… resilience, trauma and matters of wellbeing.
Transition out of an organisation is an opportunity to reflect, to begin the next chapter of our lives based on the richness of relationships and experiences cultivated over our lifetime. It can, however, also stir feelings that could be stressful or recall difficult memories. In this webinar Elaine Miller-Karas and Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda share ideas of how to navigate this next part of our journey as well as discussing practical tools to provide relief from stressful and traumatic symptoms. Ma. Cecilia also shares her own experiences in this touching and important conversation.
My journey celebrated… the past, present and future.
In this webinar Dr Honey Carandang and Nani Zulminarni join the Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs to each share some of their inspiring journey as social entrepreneurs, reflecting on what motivates them and what succession means to them. They share insights including how they ease the succession process for themselves (as Nani says to avoid post-power syndrome) and ensure they pass on the knowledge they have gained to the next generation of change makers.
Eldership - an issue of diversity?
As the first generation of social entrepreneurs' step into what Cubans call ‘their third age’, we explore eldership as a vital aspect of diversity. We hear insights from Kathryn Hall-Trujillo 'Mama Kat' (Global Advisory Board member of the Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs) and Hae-young Lee (Country Director of Ashoka Korea) as they discuss the challenges and opportunities they see in eldership.
A Board that’s fit for purpose.
We hear insights from Dan Viederman (an award-winning social entrepreneur) who shares his experiences of the succession process and his learnings from being on boards across the non-profit and commercial sectors.
Funding the Succession Challenge.
We hear from Rebecca Eastmond as she provides valuable advice on how and when to talk to a funder about succession, she gives examples of how it can be done well and examples of what to avoid and she answers questions from the audience. As a founder, a funder and a board member she gives insights that draw on her wealth of experience.
In Conversation with… Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda.
Our conversation touches on her early years and the trauma of fighting for freedom in the Philippines, working through her experiences and emotions with the Wellbeing Project, her work to tackle human trafficking and how she has approached her transition into retirement.
She also provides fantastic insights into choosing a board and the importance of respect and setting boundaries in succession.
Recovering from Financial Disaster
In our latest webinar Tracey Chambers and Attila von Unruh guide us through practical advice on how to prepare for financial crisis as well as how to recover. They share stories of hope, highlighting the vital importance of sharing what's happening with a supportive network and reaching out for help.
Hero culture damaging the social sector?
Gary Cohen and Neelam Chhiber discuss this important question. Just some of the points covered - how social entrepreneurs come to be labelled as 'heroes'; how this affects their wellbeing; that it’s organisations, networks and movements (not lone 'heroes') that create systems change and the importance of recognising and empowering others.
Living to Work or Working to Live?
How do social entrepreneurs create financial security for themselves: so vital, but often ignored? Our speaker Mark Cheng tables some ideas on how we can change the culture within the social sector - to address the unhealthy martyr complex, the lack of financial recognition for founders and how we can support social entrepreneurs to prepare for their eldership.
Older or Elder?
This interactive discussion, lead by our co-founders Mel Young, Chris Underhill and Andrea Coleman highlighted fantastic insights from the audience as we discussed the importance of and the challenges facing elders as well as looking back on enlightening conversations over the last two years.
What if my successor doesn’t work out? What can I learn?
The Founder of a social enterprise does many things – the visionary, the fundraiser and they bring the magic. What can we pass on from our experiences and what do you need the successor to bring? Most importantly, how do you collectively maintain the culture and mission? Inspired by the song “I Can See Clearly Now” (sung by Jimmy Cliff) we reflect on all these aspects of succession planning with Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, Ruth Ibegbuna and Rupert Roniger.
We all know the feeling of 'there's just so much more to do.' Celebrating your journey and the future that awaits.
Our guest speakers Taffy Adler, Gretchen Ki Steidle and co-founder, Andrea Coleman discuss transition, building in a culture of celebrating the successes and learning from what didn’t work. All bringing to mind the Elton John song ‘I’m Still Standing!’
Always Got a Friend.
Carole King’s song “You’ve got a friend” beautifully epitomizes the care and support that we as social entrepreneurs need as we look at the best way to celebrate our eldership both in our succession and our leadership. Our speakers are Dr. François Bonnici, Director at the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship; Adriana Craciun, Senior Advisor – Organizational Development and Capacity Building, Oak Foundation; and Tim Hanstad, Chief Executive Officer, Chandler Foundation.
Passing the Baton.
Inspired by the film, “Chariots of Fire” we consider the founder and those who follow after them. In this webinar we have several very powerful contributions to the idea of “passing on the baton” from Shona McDonald, Marisol Borbon, Arlette Hernández and Julia Lalla-Maharajh.
Facing and Managing Change through your Life and Career.
After the wonderful song, “Changes” by David Bowie, we invite three extraordinary African women to reflect on transition and succession in their lives. Angela Benson, Salamatu Garba and Mahali Hlasa reflect upon the next steps they are thinking about as they each consider the transition pathway and a variety of options for succession.
What next for the Founder when they leave their organisation?
Giving thanks to the fantastic song “I Did it My Way” sung by Frank Sinatra, this webinar gives an insight into how Mary Nally and Rick Aubry went about departing from their organisations and what they did next in their lives plus a reflection by Bob Bharij, a leading social entrepreneur in mid-career, on what this all means to him and to us.
What’s it like taking over from the founder?
With thanks to Queen for their magnificent song title: “Don’t stop me now”, we are proud to welcome Molly Melching and Elena Bonometti as our speakers. Molly is the founder of Tostan and in due time arrangements were made for Elena to become the Chief Executive Officer. Both colleagues now have a role to play in Tostan. It’s this exciting journey and how they have arranged matters so as to deliver Tostan’s incredible programmes that we meet to understand and discuss.
Leaving Well and Living Well.
With grateful acknowledgement to the Beatles famous song “When I’m Sixty-Four” this webinar was all about the practical matters of ensuring that you have financial security after your departure from your organisation. This theme speaks about the concerns that the older person has as they enter into retirement or an alternative way of earning sufficiently to be independent of their own organisation if they so choose. A fascinating conversation with insights from the speakers, Dorothy Stoneman, Gisela Solymos and Wietse van der Werf.
Who Are You If Not Your Organisation?
As social entrepreneurs undertake their journey of creation and operation there is a natural tendency for the social entrepreneur to become closely identified with their own organisation. This can be healthy and unhealthy in equal measure. Jim Fruchterman from Tech Matters in the USA was joined by Sheela Patel from India in a fascinating debate on the future sustainability of an organisation as the Founder moves on.
Should I Stay… A Reflection on Transition.
Evoking the Clash song “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” this webinar focuses on transition journeys. Veronica Cabera from the Fundacion la Fuente and Sharath Jeevan, founder of STIR Education, talk about their different transition journeys as social entrepreneurs. Alongside them we hear from Ian Pilbean, HR Dept Edinburgh and the Lothian Team who talks about transitions in the corporate sector.
Blog.
Our three co-founders Chris Underhill, Mel Young and Andrea Coleman are delighted to announce that we have received funding from the Skoll Foundation!
For our fifth webinar we were privileged to hear from three speakers - Dr Francois Bonnici of the Schwab Foundation, Adriana Craciun from the Oak Foundation and Tim Hanstad from the Chandler Foundation. They have seen succession in the social enterprise community from different perspectives, as supporters of social entrepreneurs.
There is a lot of talk about what the world will look like once the global Covid-19 pandemic has been tamed.
Social entrepreneurs have been thrust into the forefront of these discussions.
“It was a great pleasure to be with you and share our experiences. I was really moved about seeing all your faces on the screen.”
Gisela Solymos
Co-founder, CREN (Centre of Nutritional Recovery and Education), Brazil.
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