Board assurance for charities – do we really know what we think we know?
Governance failures have made headlines repeatedly in recent years across all sectors of the economy, and charities have not escaped scandal with high profile cases attracting scrutiny and eroding public confidence. I work with a range of different organisations at … Continued
Facing up to the fourth industrial revolution
On 13 November the World Economic Forum (WEF) convened the latest meeting of its Global Future Councils in the lavish settings of a Dubai beach-side resort, and I joined as a newly elected Global Future Council Fellow. The Global Future … Continued
The death of a language is a loss for humanity
Today there are some 7000 languages on our planet, spoken by a plethora of peoples in a huge number of cities and villages and in a menagerie of different cultures. But that number is expected to decline rapidly in the … Continued
Enterprising communities: bridging foreign and local realities
‘The challenge is to learn to see things the other way round, to appreciate and grasp that other reality, of local people’ – Robert Chambers. Empowering others to drive their own change This rationale has been at the forefront of … Continued
Angelina Jolie in a refugee camp. Or, what is humanitarian innovation?
For months now we have been watching news about people fleeing their homes due to ongoing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan or Somalia. And just when writing this post my newsfeed tells me that 100 people died after their boat capsized … Continued
Attending to behaviour in organisations – the antidote to weariness?
The fabulous team that I lead at Suffolk County Council is up for a national Behavioural Change Award next week. We focus on young people with disabilities. Perhaps unusually, we are taking a punt on being recognised for work that … Continued
What ‘impact’ can also mean: 765 days of protest and resilience
‘….it is the countless deeds of unknown people who lay the basis for the significant events that enter history’ ― Howard Zinn Laura Claus is a PhD Candidate at Cambridge Judge Business School working on topics around social movements and social innovation. … Continued
Reigniting Kenya’s mobile money revolution: this time in health
Since 2010, access to “the highest attainable standard of health” has been a constitutional right in Kenya. However, an estimated 80 per cent of Kenyans remain without access to quality medical coverage, indicating a massive discrepancy between theory and reality … Continued
Gains or pains? Natural capital – and how to use it
‘Business is often unaware of its true reliance on nature… The new model for business seeks to integrate the real value of nature into its thinking’ – UK Government Ecosystem Markets Taskforce, Realising nature’s value Nearly all businesses rely on … Continued
Can governments cope with the sea change ahead?
‘Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is’ ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea The World Government Summit recently took place in Dubai on 8-10 … Continued