Building confidence and telling stories

Last week, Laura (Adams), Chair of Caplor Horizons, Ian and Lorna, had the privilege of meeting with Charles (Handy), renowned social philosopher, pictured below. As a prolific writer and social commentator, amongst the many conversations we had, we asked him about his reflections on our work over the last 10 years, as he has been an advisor of ours since the beginning of our journey.

Charles said that it was the stories that were the most important part. He asked us to share our favourite stories, and he in turn shared his. His was the story of working with us with Aids Alliance India in 2019. During the session, Charles was on the ‘hot seat’ and invited group members to sit on the seat in turn and ask him any questions they wanted. The energy in the room was electrifying, as you can see in the pictures, as one by one he answered their questions. There were around 20 participants in all!

Laura also told the story of working with The Jaipur Rugs Foundation, India, on a strategic impact report. This involved talking to a range of people across the organisation, including the women who wove the rugs, based in rural villages across Jaipur. Pictured below is Laura, talking with women weavers on the impact of their work on their family and their community.

What inspired Laura was not only the difference this made to the livelihoods of families, but the way that a more secure working life raised the confidence of the women in their own creative ideas. Laura said 'it was as though their natural talent was let loose as worries about the stability of their work reduced and they had greater opportunity to follow their creative imaginations. The resulting unique rug designs were truly inspiring'.

Another significant insight Charles said about our work was: ‘Our work gives other people confidence, as we believe in them’. We hope we can continue to give confidence as we move into our second decade of work at Caplor Horizons. For links for previous conversations we have had with Charles, please click here, here and here.

‘Making sense of confidence’. Clive (Hyland) and Victoria (Hall) recently produced a podcast, as part of a series, on Neuroscience and Humans at work. Please click here to listen. In this episode, they explore the elusive nature of confidence, dissecting its roots in memory and the impact of past experiences on present-day confidence levels. They discuss strategies for overcoming under confidence, emphasising the importance of understanding and challenging negative self-talk. They also examine the role of emotions in performance, offering insights into building genuine confidence through deliberate practice and self-awareness. 

Coming soon… we are currently finalising our impact report over the last 10 years called A Decade of Transformative Journeys. We have identified and documented seven journeys of transformation, and we are excited to share it with you in the coming weeks.

Changemaker of the month

Quote from Tahir Shah: ‘Stories are the communal currency of humanity’.

Best wishes
Lorna, Rosie, Kemal and Ian

From strangers to sisters – the power of humanity!

We recently had the pleasure to attend an event in Liverpool, led by Sisters Not Strangers. Sisters Not Strangers (SNS) are an inspirational UK-based coalition of 7 organisations that support asylum-seeking and refugee women. They have come together to campaign against the harmful and damaging consequences of asylum policies and how they impact women in particular.

‘See us first as human beings and women, not as refugees and asylum seekers’. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the movement that is gaining momentum in numerous cities across the UK, and to broaden the support base. There is a powerful and profound message at the heart of everything that Sisters Not Strangers does – that is to ‘see us first as human beings and women, not as refugees and asylum seekers’. Many individuals, and groups from across different sectors attended, in what is hoped to be the first of many such events. 

Following this, we delivered a training programme for SNS focussed on building effective campaign strategies, leadership and teamworking. This is part of a wider programme which includes sessions on feminist leadership and fundraising, with other topics coming down the line. We were greatly uplifted by the passion, conviction, resilience, optimism and enthusiasm for learning expressed during the training, all the more remarkable because of the challenges and hardships that they had personally overcome in their own journeys. Their manifesto, which you can read here, states: “we dream of a world where all women who seek asylum are seen was women, as neighbours, as mothers, as colleagues, as activists – as sisters not strangers”.

The important work of SNS reminds us of our shared humanity and why we must look beyond the labels and experiences that can separate, exclude or divide us as human beings. We might say that this is a very ‘human’ intelligence, underpinned by compassionate, creative and courageous leadership. 

Reminder of our upcoming webinar on Artificial Intelligence (AI). We would be delighted if you could join us for our next webinar which will explore a new and radically different type of intelligence that is shaping, and will continue to shape, our world in ways that will not necessarily be easy to predict, control or contain – Artificial Intelligence. Click here for the webinar flyer and here for our last newsletter on AI. 

Webinar: Artificial Intelligence: what is it, and how can we harness its potential for good?
Date: 13th March 2024
Time: 12:00 to 13:30 GMT
Where: Zoom

To register for the event click here.

We hope this will be an opportunity to discuss with others, from a range of organisations, questions such as :

• What will the opportunities and challenges, potentials and pitfalls, of AI mean for organisations like Sisters Not Strangers in the years to come? 

• How can the women of Sisters Not Strangers ensure that their message ‘see us first as human beings’ is heard loud and clear?

• How can we best address the many concerns about biased algorithms which can result in AI amplifying the worst of human prejudice and systemic discrimination? (Click here to read an article about this)

Please share this invite with anyone you think would be interested to attend.

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the Week: ‘Imagine humans and AI not as rivals in a race, but as partners in a symphony. Each with unique strengths, together composing a future richer than either could achieve alone’.

This was generated by Google’s AI function, Gemini, in response to the prompt – ‘craft an inspiring quote about human and artificial intelligence’. 

Best wishes

Rosie, Kemal, Lorna and Ian

How can we harness Artificial Intelligence for good? Join our next webinar!

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how can we harness its potential for good?  This is the subject of our next webinar. You are very welcome to join us. It will be on 13th March between 12:00 and 13:30 GMT. You can see a one-page flyer and register for it here. 

Why are we focusing on AI? Many believe AI can change our world: e.g. in ‘The Coming Wave: Technology, power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma’ (2023) Mustapha Suleyman, a co-founder of one of the world’s leading AI companies, makes the case that ‘we’re approaching a critical threshold for our species - everything is about to change’. On the one hand, AI is poised ‘to become the single greatest accelerant of progress in history’. On the other hand, ‘humanity faces potentially unprecedented harm linked to the containment problem.’ 

What is the containment problem?  This can be defined as: ‘technology’s predisposition to diffuse widely in waves and to have emergent impacts that are impossible to predict or control, including negative and unforeseen consequences.’ Some, like Mustapha Suleyman, believe that safeguards need to be urgently put in place to monitor, curtail, control and potentially even close-down technologies. 

So what? Now what? What do you think? Is this relevant in our day to day lives with our families, friends, colleagues and communities? Is it overblown hype? Does it take our attention away from existential global threats like climate change, biodiversity loss and the refugee crisis? Or can AI enable us to address such issues more effectively? Perhaps the answers lie somewhere in between the extremes that different commentators believe.

Our webinar will consider 3 core questions - we hope you will join us with a diverse group of our Caplor Community members to discuss these. What can AI do for you and/or your organisation? What safeguards should we create for ourselves? What wider implications will, or could, this have on society?

Who will lead the webinar? Deven Thakkar, our Web and IT Systems Advisor, will share his insights and there will be interactive demonstrations. A small group of us did this with Deven recently. We found it so compelling that we thought it would be useful to share and explore the matter with our wider community.  

What else is new? We have recently overhauled the Caplor House section of our website. This includes a range of resources to deepen learning: e.g. about how the Caplor House can be linked to neuroscience.

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the Week: : ‘Like all technologies before it, AI will reflect the values of its creators. So inclusivity matters – from who designs it to who sits on the company boards and which ethical perspectives are included.’ Kate Crawford (a leading scholar on the environmental and ethical implications of AI)

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kemal

Could you be an Anti-Heroic Leader?

We believe that the modern challenges we face call for a different type of leadership. This is a belief that Richard Wilson also shares in his book ‘Anti Hero: The Hidden Revolution in Leadership and Change’. He describes it as a shift from “Heroic” to “Anti-Heroic” leadership. Heroic leaders are those people who believe in command and control styles of leadership, valuing power, charisma and expertise over other (anti-heroic) qualities such as communication, listening, honesty, valuing teamwork and collaboration. 

How can we be anti-heroic leaders? Wilson suggests that heroic leaders have four ‘fatal flaws’ – they tend to i) be overconfident in their opinions; ii) lack empathy towards others; iii) be inflexible; and iv) deny the existence of uncertainty. Anti-heroic leaders, in contrast, are much more comfortable with uncertainty because they are capable of holding paradoxes, of holding their truths with an ‘open hand’ rather than a ‘clenched fist’. Some people have called this the subtle realm between our dualistic either/or categories of right and wrong, good and bad, true or false. 

Wilson identifies some of the ways in which anti-heroic leaders do this:

• An ability to embrace uncertainty and to analyse evidence.

• Being highly focused and highly flexible.

• Demonstrating personal vulnerability and being highly directive.

• Are authentically themselves and committed to personal growth.

• Are able to live with contradictions in themselves and the world.

As a result, anti-heroic leaders are better able to adapt to new circumstances, draw upon all relevant information, build diverse relationships, and understand other people. 

At Caplor Horizons we would say that ‘they have all four rooms of The Caplor House covered’ – and it is this that equips anti-heroic leaders to navigate an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, much more so than the ‘mythical’ heroes of times gone by! Caplor Horizons is privileged to work with our Advisor, Lynne (Sedgemore), who is featured in Wilson’s paper – as an example of anti-heroic leadership.

Anti-heroic leadership and authenticity. In a recent podcast about Navigating Imposter Syndrome, our Advisor, Clive (Hyland), and Victoria (Hall), touch on some themes related to anti-heroic leadership and explore the neuroscience behind them. The discussion kicks off by dissecting the definition of “Imposter Syndrome” as the opposite of authenticity, wherein individuals feel disconnected from their true selves, often due to unfamiliar situations. Embracing unfamiliarity or uncertainty and being authentic and connected to our true selves is at the heart of anti-heroic leadership.

New Year: New Partnerships. Two new organisations that we are collaborating with in 2024 are CBM Global Disability Inclusion and Viatores Christi. CBM Global works alongside people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places to transform lives and build inclusive communities. Viatores Christi also works in some of the most marginalised communities – seeking to bring about positive change by improving access to education, healthcare and opportunity.

Both organisations, in their own way, are on anti-heroic leadership journeys. They are asking important and challenging questions about who they are and how they should operate in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.  

• CBM Global, for example, has identified 8 attributes that they want their leaders to embody through the Leadership Programme that Caplor Horizons is co-creating with them. These attributes are framed as Head (Strategic thinkers, Growth mindset, Creative Problem Solvers); Heart (Authentic, Empowering) and Hands (Inclusive, Collaborative, Accountable).

• In 2024 Caplor Horizons is supporting Viatores Christi on a strategy renewal process. The process will require an exploration of some very challenging questions identified as priorities by their Staff, Board, Members and Partners – including ‘Where is, and what lies at the heart of Viatores Christi as it goes through a transition period?’. Asking questions like this is vital for organisations navigating uncertainty and ensuring that they remain connected to authentic mission and purpose. 

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the Week: “When you get your, 'Who am I?', question right, all of your, 'What should I do?' questions tend to take care of themselves” Richard Rohr 

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kema

Building bridges for fresh starts and better futures

Building bridges for fresh starts

In December, Rosie (Bishop) and Kemal (Shaheen) were in Dublin with our partner the Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities (IASIO). Over the last year, Caplor Horizons has been working closely with IASIO – helping them to develop a new strategy and to communicate their inspirational work more effectively. 

IASIO is striving for ‘An Ireland where the cycle of offending behaviour is broken, and everyone can flourish’. Working at a national level with the prison and probation services – they help to bring transformational change to the lives of people caught up in Ireland’s justice system – by creating opportunities for education, employment, training, resettlement and so much more. Their mission is ‘to make the single biggest contribution they can to break the cycle of offending behaviour, by changing minds, transforming lives, and influencing societal and systemic change’.

During the two days that Rosie and Kemal were with IASIO – they joined the team for their Christmas gathering. Over dinner Graham (Tucker – IASIO’s Resettlement Officer at Mountjoy Prison) – pictured below in blue, explained an old Irish tradition for welcoming in the New Year. At the stroke of midnight on December 31st people will open the back door of their house to let the old year out, whilst the front door is also opened to usher the new year in. As with so many cultures around the world – a new year is marked with a symbol of renewal and seen as an opportunity for fresh starts. For IASIO breaking the cycle of offending behaviour is all about renewal and fresh starts.

Not all cultures celebrate the New Year in January – and for some spring is seen as the time of transition from one year to the next. The Parsis, for example, celebrate Nowruz in March. However, it is perhaps the Roman association of January with the two-faced deity Janus that explains why many cultures herald the new year in January. With one face looking back at the old and the other ahead to the new – January is a threshold, a turning point, an opportunity to build bridges to better futures.

Building bridges for better futures

In their article ‘Peace on Earth? The Tradition of Christmas Ceasefires Across the World’ Sanja Badanjak and Laura Wise explore worldwide traditions of building bridges (declaring ceasefires) during the holidays. They state:

“In the various Christian traditions, the end of the calendar year and the Christmas holidays signify a time of peace and reflection: day-to-day struggle and strife is to be set aside, at least for a short while. In the UK, setting aside the contentious issues of the day often comes with the label of ceasefire, harking back to the famed story of the 1914 Christmas truce, when fighting stopped for a day on the WWI front in Flanders, and soldiers from the two sides exchanged sweets and even played football in no man’s land” Read the full article here.

In December we met with another inspirational organisation called Hand in Hand, that has been working to build bridges between Jewish and Arab communities for the last 25 years. Their mission is to build partnership and equality through a growing network of integrated, bilingual multicultural schools and communities. Their hugely important work has featured in this recent article by the historian Simon Schama. 

The schools and communities that Hand-in-Hand have developed are beacons of light in the world. Shining examples of the transformational change that is possible when people come together in inclusive learning environments to understand and collaborate with each other across lines of division and separation. Schools and communities that nurture empathy, enable young people to transcend their differences and deepen cooperation and co-creation are profoundly important learning environments for the next generation of leaders.  

From all of us at Caplor Horizons – wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful festive period. We look forward to building more bridges with organisations around the world as we look to the future and welcome in a New Year! 

Quote of the week: “In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams” African Proverb

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kemal

Communication, trust, and challenging conversations: the essentials of shared leadership?

It was wonderful to see everyone who participated in our ‘Shared Leadership’ webinar earlier this month – helping us to explore what it is, what it involves and why you might want to do it. More than 40 people joined us from around the world, including Ireland, Zambia, India, Gambia and South Africa and we’re especially grateful to our speakers, Minke van Til (Co-Director at Ella’s) and Samson Hailu-Bekele (Co-CEO of Water for People), for their excellent case study insights.

During the webinar we considered some of the things that contribute to the success of shared leadership – including deep levels of trust and self-knowledge; collective commitment to, and responsibility for, a common purpose; the importance of diversity in skills, age, gender and background; willingness to learn and an openness to challenge and being challenged. 

Alongside some of the potential benefits (such as improved decision making, generating a diverse pool of ideas and better health and wellbeing because leadership responsibilities are shared) we also considered some of the challenges – such as the time it can take to transition to a shared leadership approach and the potential for it to be more costly.

If you missed the webinar but would like to take a deeper dive you can view a recording of the webinar here and we hope that you can make the next one on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 12:00-13:30 UK time. Also, watch this space for a new Ripple Paper on Shared Leadership coming soon!

Deadline for applying to become a Caplor Horizons Trustee: 26th November 2023. There are just a few days left to apply to become a Caplor Horizons Trustee. We are seeking people from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Previous experience on a not-for-profit Board is not required, though such experience is always welcome. Applications from those based outside the UK are welcome and please do share this with anyone who might be interested. Click here for the application pack.

Shared leadership requires excellent communication, building trusting relationships and the ability to have challenging conversations when necessary. These are just some of the things that participants in our Emerging Leaders programme (pictured below) have been working on through our partnership with Refugee Action.

This month 20 people from 8 different organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers, joined Lorna (Pearcey) and Rosie (Bishop) in Liverpool for the final two in-person modules in the programme. Over two days people engaged with various topics including developing a coaching and facilitation approach (using the Caplor Coaching Way) and having challenging conversations.

Participants learnt more about different responses to conflict resolution using the Thomas Kilman model. According to this model, there are five modes/conflict responses that can be assessed based on scales of assertiveness (how much we focus on our own needs during the conflict) and cooperativeness (how much we focus on other people's needs over our own during the conflict). They are:

• Competing (assertive and uncooperative)

• Accommodating (unassertive and cooperative)

• Avoiding (unassertive and uncooperative)

• Collaborating (assertive and cooperative)

• Compromising (moderate in assertiveness and cooperativeness).

If you would like to find out more about the approach and model, click here.

Ian and Lorna are currently in Zambia where, amongst other work, they managed to catch up with the team from Edmund Rice Development Zambia Office. Clement (Sindazi), who also joined us for the Shared Leadership webinar, was highly appreciative of the support that Caplor Horizons had provided in helping to develop the Africa Province Strategic Framework – developed at the height of the COVID pandemic but continuing to guide their operations into 2024!   

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the week: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" African Proverb

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kemal

Sharing leadership: insights from those who are doing it and is it for you?

Our work enables alternative models and approaches to leadership such as feminist leadership and leaderful approaches. These recognise and celebrate the diversity of skills, experiences and potential of people. Crucially, all of these different models seek to challenge and change how power is typically held by leaders.

We are especially interested in 'shared leadership'. This represents a conscious shift to a different way of sharing influence and decision making, including a move away from ‘power over’ to ‘power with’, ‘for’ and ‘through’ others.  We believe that this is particularly relevant to the next generation of leaders who are attracted to new forms of organising; forms that are better aligned to current and future needs. 

We are hosting a webinar on shared leadership on 14th November (12.00-13.30 GMT on Zoom). We would be delighted if you could join us! To find out more, click here for a flyer and click here to register. During the webinar we will hear from speakers about their experiences of shared leadership in different contexts: across different parts of the world, different ages and experiences, different cultures, and differing gender dynamics. We will explore topics such as:

• What are the key cultural considerations we need to factor in, to support this type of leadership approach?

• How could this approach be integrated into your organisation to inspire a more diverse profile in leadership?

• How can this approach change the current narrative of leadership, to be more attractive for the next generation of leaders?

• What are the key barriers and conditions of success?

We have the following speakers. And we will also share our experiences at Caplor Horizons.

• Emily Chalke and Minke van Til from Ella’s, a London based organisation working with women who have survived trafficking and sexual exploitation.

• Samson Hailu Bekele from Water for People, a global organisation that promotes the development of high quality drinking water and sanitation, accessible to all.

Leadership: the courage to be yourself – finding your authentic voice. The models and approaches we champion call for high levels of self-awareness and courage to be yourself. This is sometimes referred to as ‘finding your authentic voice’. 

In a recent podcast our Advisor, Clive (Hyland), and his colleague Victoria (Hall), explore questions such as ‘who am I when I am my authentic self?’ They point out that a deeper level of self-awareness, coupled with a better understanding of how our brains process information, and focus our intention and attention, can contribute to more authentic leadership. You can listen to the podcast here.

In her excellent forthcoming book ‘Presence Activism: A Profound Antidote to Climate Anxiety’ our Advisor, Dr Lynne (Sedgemore), takes a deeper dive into the practice of ‘presence’. This includes insights about how carrying out ‘inner work’ can strengthen our resilience and give us the courage and ability to be authentic leaders and be our best selves. Lynne writes: ‘presence, which stimulates and encourages our inner work, is the antidote to anxiety as it supports and nourishes us into more sustainable and skilful outer action’. You can pre-order Lynne’s book here. 

Working with authentic leaders: we are privileged to work with many leaders in different countries who demonstrate high levels of self-awareness and authenticity. 

Recently Lorna (Pearcey) and Kemal (Shaheen) were in Ireland supporting two such leaders – Karol Balfe CEO at ActionAid Ireland and CEO and Co-founder of Development Perspectives Bobby McCormack. Helping ActionAid Ireland with a governance review and Development Perspectives through a strategy renewal process are both examples of how Caplor Horizons enables organisations driven by a strong sense of purpose to find and amplify their authentic voice in the world.

Rosie (Bishop) has recently returned from Zambia and South Africa where she has also been supporting some inspirational organisations and leaders, including Bluemoon Projects in Cape Town. They are a construction charity providing social assistance to some of Cape Town’s most marginalised informal settlements. Their vision is to create safe and empowering spaces for children to excel. They do this through constructing and formalising Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs). To read more about their work and support them to raise crucial funds, click here. 

Trustee Recruitment: we’re looking for up to three new Trustees to join our Board. If you share our charity’s values, beliefs, vision and purpose, and are driven to make meaningful change in the world, please click here to find out more and apply now! Applications close on Sunday 26th November. 

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the week: “Authenticity is about the choice to show up and be real" Brene Brown

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kemal

Apply to become a Caplor Horizons Trustee!

Do you have the skills, ideas and dynamism to help our charity continue to learn, think and act differently? We’re looking for up to three new Trustees to join our Board. If you share our charity’s values, beliefs, vision and purpose, and are driven to make meaningful change in the world, please click here to find out more and apply now! Applications close on Sunday 26th November. 

We are seeking people from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Previous experience on a not-for-profit Board is not required, though such experience is always welcome. Applications from those based outside the UK are welcome.

As part of our commitment towards anti-racism we want this process to be as accessible as possible. Therefore, we encourage people to share their lived experience on their CV. In addition, we are also trialling a shadowing scheme. Shadowing opportunities are for those who are keen to become a Trustee but feel they may not yet have sufficient skills or experience. The purpose of our shadowing programme is to give people a taste of what being on the Board is like and how they might contribute.  For more information, click here.

This is an exciting time to join our Board. We have a growing reputation and strong evidence of the difference we make. Click here to read our latest impact report. However we, and the organisations we work with, face many challenges. Therefore the importance and value of the support we can offer is greater than ever.

As a Trustee you will be pivotal in ensuring the effective governance of our charity. In particular you will be responsible for ensuring the organisation has in place an effective strategy and suitable policies, monitoring the delivery of our strategy, ensuring there is sound management of money and risks, managing and motivating the Co-Directors, and maintaining Board development including regular review. 

These responsibilities are summarised in a more memorable form using our 5M Model of Governance, developed by our Governance Advisor, Peter Moore. This model is explained in more detail in our “Essentials of Governance” Ripple Paper.

We have recently updated our Ripple Paper titled “Governance and Long Term Environmental Challenges”. To read it, click here. This paper suggests practical Board responses to long term environmental challenges in the context of the ‘planetary boundaries’ framework. Although the suggested Board responses to this complex global issue may appear quite daunting, especially for small organisations, a good first step would be a discussion by the Board that includes: “Do planetary boundaries matter to our organisation? Why? Which ones?”; “What are realistic priorities for how we respond?”; “Is there anything we need to establish to take this forward such as a task force or an annual review? How will we know that we are making progress?”

Don't forget to keep signing up to our “Shared Leadership” webinar on Tuesday 14th November at 12:00:13:30 GMT on Zoom. To find out more, click here for a flyer and click here to register. 

Change Maker of the Week

Quote of the week: “It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you – always." Oprah Winfrey

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna, Kemal and Iain

From Vision to Reality: Sharing our yearly impact report!

We are excited to be sharing our latest impact report with you! This covers the period from April 2022 to March 2023. While it has been a challenging year in many ways, we remain inspired by the incredible work of our clients and partners and feel honoured to get to walk alongside them on their journey to be more effective and achieve long lasting change in the world. 

Why is it important to measure impact? We measure, capture and report on our impact to understand the changes that have resulted from our work and the difference that is being made. We conceive impact as the value created from our activities and actions. Doing this allows us to see the progress we have made so far, celebrate our successes and improve our ways of working to better deliver on our strategy. Our impact report looks at the activities, outputs, outcomes and impact of our interventions. We have defined these terms below:

Through working with our clients and partners we’ve had an impact on a wide-range of issues including justice for refugees and people seeking asylum, global humanitarian response to crises, climate change and biodiversity loss, defending and protecting against environmental crime and abuse, the elimination of violence against women and children, support for women that have survived trafficking and sexual exploitation, alleviating poverty and food insecurity, and more. 

In particular, our findings demonstrate that our contribution has enabled our partners to foster greater connection, clarity, confidence, commitment, ability to navigate through change and strengthened organisational culture. The learnings from our impact report have prompted us to continue to consider how we can improve our ways of working and challenge ourselves to think differently, learn differently and act differently.

We also support our partners to develop their own impact frameworks and reports. Rosie is currently in Zambia working with one of our newest partners, i4Life. i4Life is an Irish based non-profit organisation working among the poorest communities in Zambia, particularly in the Linda Compound, a township that is home to approximately 80,000 people. The i4Life team runs nutrition clinics and a primary health care centre for thousands of the residents in the area as well as projects in more remote areas of Zambia. See some pictures below of Ian and Lorna facilitating sessions on governance and leadership with the Board and team in Ireland. 

Don't forget to keep signing up to our “Shared Leadership” webinar on Tuesday 14th November at 12:00:13:30 GMT on Zoom. To find out more, click here for a flyer and click here to register. 

Change Maker of the Week:

Laura is also a B Leader and runs a B Corp Academy programme, helping small businesses complete the B Corp certification process with ease and confidence. B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. 

Quote of the week: “Success is not measured in the amount of dollars you make, but the amount of lives you impact.” Anonymous

Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna, Kemal and Iain

A time of change and transition for The Commitment

What’s the background? In April 2019 Caplor Horizons started incubating The Commitment as part of our strategy to focus on making a significant difference to the environmental crisis. Since its establishment it has grown positively in many ways. This includes having over 12,000 people in the UK pledge that they will put climate change and biodiversity at the heart of their decision making when they vote at local or national levels. Caplor Horizons usually works with organisations that are established rather than incubating them. However, during these past few years, it also helped incubate another environmental initiative called The Great Collaboration, though this was on a much smaller scale.
 
What was our commitment to The Commitment? We envisaged at the outset contributing to the early stages and then becoming a partner to it once The Commitment ‘left home’ to become independent or part of another organisation. The Commitment remained at home longer than we initially anticipated because we were still adding value and the implications for our core business were manageable; moreover, it has been win-win in many respects with a great deal of valuable learning.

Why are we now in a time of transition? Following discussion at our June Board meeting, a decision was made to transition to minimising activities of The Commitment and moving it outside Caplor Horizons. The rationale for this decision was: (a) a sense that this would enable Caplor Horizons to fully focus on its core business; (b) a need for The Commitment to secure funding to renew its way forward. We’re very fortunate that our day-to-day work at Caplor Horizons continues to go from strength to strength with new enquiries and existing clients and partners continuing with us. Notwithstanding that we’ve increased our team size, we need to keep our focus on continuing to design and deliver everything to the best standards possible (watch this space as we will be releasing our annual impact report soon to give insights on the difference we have been making). In relation to The Commitment, we have contributed significantly towards a movement for change and this calls for continued and robust reappraisal of the best way forward in circumstances of reduced funding. This reappraisal will happen in coming months.  

What will happen next? William (Eccles) and Peter (Moore) will lead on this. And, until the transition is complete, Lorna, Rosie, Ian, and the trustees of Caplor Horizons, will continue with respective management and governance level responsibilities. At the June Board meeting, William stepped down as a Co-Director and he is now concentrating on being Director of The Commitment (an ‘Advisor’ role whilst The Commitment remains within Caplor Horizons). Peter is contributing as part of his role as Governance Advisor to Caplor Horizons.  

What are the consequences? One of the most significant changes is that in order to minimise activities we no longer have any full-time staff members working on The Commitment. We are immensely grateful to the excellent staff team that has been contributing until recently and we are sad to lose them as colleagues. Furthermore, we are highly appreciative of all the outstanding supporters and volunteers that have been – or continue to be – involved. 

What will happen longer term? The Commitment is expected to leave home by March 2024. By then it is hoped that further resources will be secured and The Commitment can continue building an ever greater impact on the political attention paid to climate change and biodiversity. We remain committed to being a partner to The Commitment long term, post the transition process.

We are very thankful to everyone who has been supporting The Commitment in one way or another and we hope that you will continue to do so.
 
Best wishes,
William, Peter, Lorna, Rosie, Ian