Recent Webinars.

Here is a summary of our most recent webinars.

Watch the recordings in our ‘Webinar Archive’ using the button below.

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In Conversation with… Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda.

Our conversation touches on Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda’s 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. 

Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda.

Recovering from Financial Disaster.

In this 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.

Attila von Unruh.
Tracey Chambers.

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.

Neelam Chhiber.
Gary Cohen.

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 tabled 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.

Mark Cheng.

What if my successor doesn’t work out? What can I learn? 11th April 2022.

The Founder is 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 transition.

Rupert Roniger.
Kathryn Hall-Trujillo.
Ruth Ibegbuna.  

Passing the baton.

The founder and those who follow after them. Chariots of Fire, the magnificent film about the 1924 Olympics is always evoked by the wonderful song of the same name written by Vangelis. As we hear the music play, so we envisage the runners and, in turn, we see them one by one passing on the baton.

In this webinar we had several very powerful contributions to the idea of “passing on the baton”, our speakers shared their perspectives on the process: handing over to the next successor, taking on the running of an organisation from the previous CEO; and we reflected on the observations and learning points from the conversation.

Shona McDonald.
Marisol Borbon.
Arlette Hernández.
Julia Lalla-Maharajh.

Facing and managing change through your life and career.

After the wonderful song, “Changes” by David Bowie, we invited three extraordinary African women to reflect on transition and succession in their lives. Angela Benson, from Liberia, Salamatu Garba, from Nigeria, and Mahali Hlasa, from Lesotho, reflected upon the next steps they are thinking about as they each consider the transition pathway and a variety of options for succession. After a successful career with the WHO Angela co-founded the Benson Hospital with her husband, Salamatu is the founder of WOFAN, an association of thousands of women farmers, and Mahali was the Chief Public Health Inspector for Maseru and is now Chairman and Country Director of Riders for Health, Lesotho.

Angela Benson.
Salamatu Garba.
Mahali Hlasa.

What next for the Founder when they leave their organisation? 12th April 2021.

Giving thanks to that fantastic song title “I Did it My Way”, we were delighted to present Mary Nally, Rick Aubry, and Bob Bharij as our three speakers with Mary and Rick discussing how they went about departing from their organisations and what they did next in their lives plus a reflection by Bob, a leading social entrepreneur in mid-career, on what this all means to him and to us.

Mary Nally.
Rick Aubry.
Bob Bharij.

What’s it like taking over from the founder.

With thanks to Queen for their magnificent song title: “Don’t stop me now”, we were 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 met to understand and discuss.

Leaving Well and Living Well.

Reflecting on the Clash song title, “The Magnificent Dance” we consider and come to understand that the Social Entrepreneur is finally leaving their organisation after many years of satisfying work. In short are they leaving well and living well? This webinar focussed on the quality of life balance for the Social Entrepreneur as they continue their journey, indeed, as the dance comes to a conclusion.

Vera Regina Cordeiro.
Sarah Corbett.
Nancy Mortifee.

Provision in Old Age.

With grateful acknowledgement to the Beatles, we reflect on the famous song title “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. It is a sad but well recognised truth that social entrepreneurs spend a lifetime in caring for their beneficiaries, but either they or their boards will not make sufficient provision for the social entrepreneurs themselves. 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.

Dorothy Stoneman.
Gisela Solymos.
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 USA was joined by Sheela Patel from India in a fascinating debate on the future sustainability of organisations as the Founder moves on.  

Jim Fruchterman.
Sheela Patel.

A Reflection on Transition.

This webinar featured Veronica Cabera from the Fundacion la Fuente and Sharath Jeevan, founder of STIR Education, who as social entrepreneurs talked about their different transition journeys. Alongside them we heard from Ian Pilbean, HR Dept Edinburgh and the Lothian Team who talked about transitions in the corporate sector. As our first ever webinar, the discussion was very insightful and it was interesting to get the outside perspective from the corporate sector.

Veronica Cabera.
Sharath Jeevan.
Ian Pilbean.