Charity Talks series 2020/21

Closing with dignity
Wednesday 18 November 2020
Guest Speakers: Cassie Robinson and Iona Lawrence

How can we do organisational or project closures well; responsibly, intelligently and compassionately?

Since early 2020, the Stewarding Loss project has been exploring what can be done to design better organisational endings. The project began pre-pandemic, but since March, it has also focused on understanding the urgent and growing need of thousands of organisations facing closure as a result of the pressure arising from the pandemic. Our speakers discussed the key challenges and opportunities, principles and practicalities.

Watch a recording of the event.

Leading through uncertainty
Wednesday 24 February 2021
Guest Speaker: Margaret Heffernan

Margaret Heffernan, businesswoman, author of Wilful Blindness and other publications, and Professor in Practice at the University of Bath.

Drawing on her latest book Uncharted, Margaret explained why ‘ineradicable uncertainty remains inherent to human life’ and never more so than during a pandemic. Through an exploration of people and organisations who are not daunted by uncertainty, she shared what skills and behaviours are needed to navigate the future successfully with agility and creativity.

Demystifying social finance and social investment 
Wednesday 10 March 2021
Speakers: Mark Salway, Jim Clifford, Dr Peter Grant, Daniella Barone Soares

In this webinar, Mark Salway and Jim Clifford discussed their recently published book ‘Demystifying Social Finance and Social Investment’. They were joined by Dr Peter Grant and guest chair Daniella Barone Soares as they introduced a forthcoming series of related learning events about social finance and social investment for nonprofits.

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Respond, reset, recover: COVID-19 and the VCSE sector, 12 months in and what lessons have we learnt? 
Tuesday 23 March 2021
Guest speaker: Professor Daniel King

12 months in, what are the key lessons we are learning about the way that the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is being impacted by and has responded to COVID-19?

In this presentation, Professor Daniel King highlighted some of the key lessons being learnt from the ESRC project being conducted with NCVO, bringing out the implications for theory, policy and practice.

Watch a recording of the event.

More information about Professor King's project and how to get involved.

Lived Experience on nonprofit boards 
Thursday 15 April 2021
Hosts: Caroline Copeman, Fiona Ash, and Jacqueline Williams
Guest speakers: Judith Davey and Darren Murinas

In this webinar Caroline Copeman (Senior Visiting Fellow), Fiona Ash (Visiting Fellow) and Jacqueline Williams (CCE consultant), from CCE’s governance team, explored Lived Experience on nonprofit boards. This event marked the launch of CCE's new resource on this important topic. The discussion considered the benefits and value to boards of including trustees with lived experience, and how to overcome some of the barriers and issues that may be encountered.

They were joined by guest speakers: Judith Davey, Chief Executive, The Advocacy Project, and Darren Murinas, Chief Executive, Expert Citizens CIC.

Watch a recording of this event.

The power of plain speaking: How a small charity punches way above its weight 
Wednesday 23 June 2021
Guest speaker: Dr Lucy Mathen

Derek Holder Memorial Lecture

The speaker at this event was Dr Lucy Mathen, Founder of Second Sight. She is an ophthalmologist and former journalist, who has helped over 450,000 of India’s poorest people to have their sight restored and countless others prevented from going blind.

In this highly interactive webinar Lucy talked about how her career in journalism and ophthalmology enabled her to take a determinedly idiosyncratic approach in her ambition to restore sight to the poorest in rural north India - with remarkable results.

Watch a recording of the event.