Charity Talks 2010/11

Courageous Leadership - Pioneering Work in Dangerous Situations
Wednesday 26 January 2011, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive, Leap Confronting Conflict, overall winner of the 2009 Charity Awards
• Justin Sesay, Leap Confronting Conflict
• Deborah Allcock Tyler, Chief Executive, Directory of Social Change

Leap supports and trains over 1,300 young volunteers who mentor fellow young people involved in gangs and violence through its PeerLink project. This can put staff and volunteers in dangerous situations but has amazing results. All leadership involves some bravery but this more than most. How does Leap train its young leaders? What values drive the work? How is risk taken and managed? What we can learn will be drawn out by Debra Allcock Tyler, an acknowledged expert in nonprofit management and leadership.

A Business-like Approach to Strategic Planning and Implementation
Wednesday 24 November 2010, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• David Nussbaum, Chief Executive, WWF UK
• Caroline Copeman, Senior Visiting Fellow and Principal Consultant, Cass CCE

Strategic Planning is now nearly everywhere in our sector but how often does it work in practice, i.e. during the implementation stage? We need to spend time planning but equally we need to spend time on implementation - something which is less widespread. David Nussbaum, Chief Executive of WWF, will talk on how the planning and implementation stages have been important for them, drawing on his experience as a Finance Director at Oxfam and in the private sector. Caroline Copeman will comment on the case study and introduce tools and other aids which can make the process successful in small and large organisations.

• David Nussbaum's Presentation [pdf]
• Caroline Copeman's Presentation [pdf]

Proving and Improving Our Worth - Performance Management
Wednesday 13 October 2010, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• Shaminder Ubhi, Chief Executive, Ashiana, Mayor of London Award winner
• Ros Oakley, Chair, Charities Evaluation Services and Principal Consultant, Cass CCE

More and more funders are demanding we show our outcomes and impact. So are our trustees, not least because of the Charity Commission interest. But primarily, we want to understand where we are succeeding and where we need to improve for the sake of our beneficiaries. Hear from Mayor of London Award winners Ashiana and their Chief Executive Shaminder Ubhi how they have done this successfully on a small budget. This Charity Talk is a must for small and medium sized organisations and will interest large organisations with five or more service units. Ros Oakley, a Cass CCE principal consultant and Chair of Charities Evaluation Services will respond and lay out the theory and good practice recommendations.

• Shaminder Ubhi's Presentation [pdf]
• Ros Oakley's Presentation [pdf]

When, Why and How of a Re-launch
Wednesday 14 July 2010, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• Dame Clare Tickell, Chief Executive, Action for Children, Third Sector magazine's 'most admired' CEO
• Caroline Diehl, Chief Executive, Media Trust

Re-launching your charity and certainly our key services is becoming more common. Why is this? Can it be fundamentally successful or is it just changing the icing on the old cake? Dame Clare Tickell, Chief Executive of Action for Children will speak on their change from NCH and the fundamental reasoning behind it; the depth and breadth of preparatory consultation; and the benefits the re-launch has brought - and perhaps most importantly, the lessons learned. Responding to the case study will be Caroline Diehl, CEO of Media Trust, who will draw out the principles and guidance useful to small as well as large third sector organisations.

• Clare Tickell's Presentation [PowerPoint]
• Caroline Diehl's Presentation [PowerPoint]

Are There Too Many Charities - How Can Charities Join Forces and Deliver More?
Wednesday 26 May 2010, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• Lesley-Anne Alexander, Chief Executive, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Chair, ACEVO
• Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

So many proposed charity mergers fail to happen, resulting in nothing but staff distress, reduced output and much time wasted. RNIB with its Chief Executive, Lesley-Anne Alexander, have come up with a new way of joint working, which achieves the benefits of merger without the high risks of traditional voluntary sector merger processes. In addition, she will talk on the specific benefits such as increased cost effectiveness and value for money. Stuart Etherington will comment on this and other merger and close co-operation methods.

Transforming Your Charity - Servant Leadership
Wednesday 21 April 2010, 6.00pm for 6.30pm

• Jon Barrick, Chief Executive, The Stroke Association, a Third Sector Charity Awards finalist 2009
• Andrew Forrest, Visiting Fellow & Principal Consultant, Cass CCE

In the last five years, The Stroke Association, led by Jon Barrick, has transformed itself in terms of size and impact, shooting into a distinctive national position and raising the profile, priority and service levels for stroke sufferers. How have they done this? Leadership throughout the organisation has been key, especially meeting the needs of colleagues and beneficiaries (servant leadership) and Jon will describe the methods they have used. Andrew Forrest, an expert in leadership, will generalise the lessons for all charities from this case study.

• Jon Barrick's Presentation [PowerPoint]
• Andrew Forrest's Presentation [PowerPoint]
• Andrew Forrest's Handout [Word]