How can real conversations lead to real change?

To find a solution to the world’s most pressing challenges, inclusive, honest, and diverse conversations are needed. As a society, we are not only confronted with coronavirus and other challenges but also a shadow pandemic: increasing rates of sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms. To bring this issue to light, click here for a ‘Real Talk’ recording of conversations to co-create actions to tackle this disturbing trend.

Some organisations, like ActionAid Ireland, who we are just starting work with, are striving to put Violence Against Women and Girls at the forefront of the global agenda. They focus on promoting women’s rights and women’s economic empowerment, also calling for an end to gender-based violence and genital mutilation.

This week we are embarking on a strategy review process. This will involve a range of sessions with the ActionAid Ireland team and wider stakeholders to take stock of the progress that has been made against the current strategy.

Change maker of the week:

Quote of the week: "Every day, you have the power to choose our better history — by opening your hearts and minds, by speaking up for what you know is right." -Michelle Obama

Going forwards with courage, compassion and creativity!

It has been argued that the best way of achieving an organisation’s aspirations is to look inward before looking outward. This can involve change at an individual level; which will lead to organisational change; and then to change in society more widely. To read the article, click here.

This is one of the driving principles behind our new strategy at Caplor Horizons: the “ripples of effect”. We have adapted our strategy to better fulfill our vision of creating a world where leaders deliver a sustainable future for all. By being courageous, compassionate, and creative in facilitating transformational change, we can transform the leadership of individuals, strengthen the resilience of organisations, and increase collaboration within society.

To read our new strategy, click here. You can find our new strategy on a page below:

Change makers of the week:

Quote of the week: “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi

Celebrating International Mother Earth Day!

We celebrate International Mother Earth Day! Susan Lieberman and Christian Walzer propose that we must promote a new paradigm: ‘One Health’, which recognises that planetary and human health are inseparable. You can read their paper here. To better understand why we celebrate this day, see a UN article here.

The Big Give? A remarkable opportunity exists to support The Commitment, our advocacy initiative to put climate change and biodiversity loss higher up the political agenda. The Big Give's Green Match Fund is a match funding campaign for charities that are working on environmental issues as part of their core mission. From midday 22nd April to midday 29th April, all donations made through The Commitment's campaign page will be doubled! To make a donation, click here.

What else can we do to fight biodiversity loss? This is a question the Gwent Wildlife Trust is working hard to answer; educating, influencing and empowering people to value the countryside they live in. Gareth (Jones), our Communications Advisor, created the short video below to showcase how the organisation is working to create a sustainable future for all.

Change maker of the week:

Quote of the week: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” - Unknown.

Is Curious Questioning, Not Looking For Clear Solutions, What Will Define Future Leadership?

It’s been reasoned that a new paradigm of leadership is emerging; one that seeks to ask more questions. A recent article suggests post-pandemic leadership, may emphasise the importance of curiosity and exploration given the increasingly challenging context. To read the full article, click here.

We’re currently exploring the role of science and spirituality and how this can help develop human potential. One way of achieving this is to engage with children to help them to develop their creativity, including to shed the constraints placed upon them. This is being facilitated by our Advisors Kemal (Shaheen), from Paper Boat, and Clive (Hyland), from Make Sense.

Change maker of the week:

Here is one of Ariram's beautifully captured moments:
About it, he says: “I was given a zoom lens and encouraged to take more pictures. Happily, I went back looking for more interesting moments. There were these beautiful flowers that drew me. But before I clicked, I remembered what I was taught, that ‘photography is about telling stories’. So I waited for a moment to happen. To my surprise a beetle flew near the flower to collect nectar. I took the camera, looked through the lens and clicked. I was spellbound to see what I captured. I never knew I would be able to take such photographs. At that moment I felt so proud of myself and wanted to capture more and more stories.”

Quote of the week: “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.” - John Kabat-Zinn

How can art be a catalyst for peace-building and healing?

Art can be a catalyst for healing and peacebuilding. The Colombian armed conflict was for a long time the world's longest active civil war until 2016, when the Peace Agreement between the government and Colombia's largest guerrilla group was signed. To commemorate this event, the Colombian artist, Doris Salcedo, undertook the difficult task of using art as a mechanism to heal, share stories and build back better. You can read more about her work and her “anti-monument” here.

We’re excited to announce that Laura Gravini-Rodriguez has joined our Caplor Horizons team. She will be taking on the “Development Coordinator” role. We had an open recruitment process, receiving 110 applications and shortlisting 12 candidates for interview. Laura has worked in the international development sector at different levels. As a Colombian, she also had the opportunity to work with demobilised guerrilla members and victims of the armed conflict. She has recently been studying a degree in BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a placement year) at the University of York.

Change maker of the week

Quote of the week: “If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world.” - Noam Chomsky

Best wishes
Ian, Lorna, Rosie, Dan and Laura

What are the 4B's of the pandemic?

What are the “4Bs”?! Gillian Tett, from the Financial Times, recently outlined 4Bs of the pandemic…

• Boredom – being unable to do our usual activities.

• Burnout – becoming frazzled by the additional work and challenges involved.

• Breakdown – depression and anxiety caused by the pandemic and related trauma.

• Blessings – ways we have grown, adapted, learnt and discovered new things.

How can we deal with such challenges and opportunities? “Radical candor”? Kim Scott proposes an interesting framework to help build stronger organizational cultures involving effective feedback. She reasons that “caring personally whilst challenging directly” can be two helpful qualities in important conversations, whether these are about big challenges or opportunities. To watch a short video to learn more, click here

TechnoServe enables people “to lift themselves out of poverty” by harnessing the benefitsof good business. It is a leading international NGO with over 1,400 staff in 30 different countries. During its 50 years, TechnoServe has made a meaningful difference to the lives of millions of people. We have been fortunate to work several times at Country at Regional levels since 2015. Many Advisors have been involved.

Now, for the first time, we will be contributing to TechnoServe at an international level. This is exciting. Over the next six months we’ll be facilitating a participatory process to renew their international strategy involving different stakeholders. Here is a picture of members of the TechnoServe team.

Kim Scott quote: “The essence of leadership is not getting overwhelmed by circumstances.”

Have a great day!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

A case for making it simple?!

When striving to influence, Niro Sivanathan prompts everyone to keep in mind that…

• “You cannot increase the quality of an argument by increasing the quantity of an argument.”

• “The delivery of your message is every bit as important as its content.”

• “Stick to your strongest, most compelling arguments.”

To learn more about the case for “keeping it simple” click here

We have had the privilege of engaging with the Cabinet of our local Council in Herefordshire in the UK. For instance, we facilitated a session based around our “Six Senses of Teamwork” exercise. Click here to learn more about this exercise. As a locally based organisation, we were greatly encouraged with the strong sense of authenticity and common purpose, plus the conviction to keep striving to a make a meaningful difference.

Our Neuroscience Advisor, Clive (Hyland) has written a new book titled, The Quantum Way: Understanding the Science behind Happiness & Workplace Engagement’ Click here to order the book. Clive is also one of the chapter authors of our book. Click here to read the book or click on the picture below to read his chapter, The Human Organisation.

Brene Brown quote: “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let out true selves be seen.”

Have a great week!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

Why wait to make The Commitment?

David Attenborough in his recent book ‘A life on our planet’ expresses: ‘We share Earth with the living world – the most remarkable life-support system imaginable, constructed over billions of years. The planet’s stability has wavered just as biodiversity has declined – the two things are bound together. To restore stability to our planet, therefore we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed’.

His thinking draws on the long-term environmental challenges described as “planetary boundaries” by a group of scientists led by Johan Rockström and Will Steffen. These were nine limits outside which there were likely to be runaway effects and tipping points with dangerous and unpredictable consequences.

"This framework is a tool that can be used to change the way we think about nature and its place in the hierarchy. It’s trying to make a system change to our economic model.” To watch an interesting video discussing this click here

The Commitment focuses on two of these boundaries – climate change and biodiversity loss – aiming to increase government led action to support these areas.

Our Thought Leadership Paper, ‘Governance and Long Term Environmental Challenges’ is aimed at not-for-profit organisations and is an attempt to suggest practical examples of possible board responses to long term environmental challenges through the framework of “planetary boundaries.” The paper indicates how to begin discussions in Board Meetings presenting five possible questions:

1. Do planetary boundaries matter to our organisation? Why? Which ones?

2. What are realistic priorities for how we respond?

3. Who will do what?

4. Is there anything we need to establish to take this forward such as a task force or an annual review?

5. How will we know that we are making progress?

To read the thought leadership paper in full, click here. Thank you for Peter (Moore), our Governance Advisor for dedicated time on this.

Johan Rockström quote: “We take it for granted. The world that we love.”

Have a great week!

Ellie, Lorna, Rosie and Ian

Collaboration for greater equality in a pandemic!

Across the world, the not for profit sector is looking for solutions to respond effectively to the inequality arising from the pandemic. Working collaboratively is one of the ways that is increasingly significant. There are many different ways of collaborating – from strategic partnerships through to mergers. Please click here to read our paper on collaboration; this includes an annex about mergers; to gain further insights about mergers click here to watch a webinar from MzN.

The current pandemic has led to increased inequality and immense challenges for people. Please see below two ways we can all make a difference.

Through our collaboration with Children Watch in Tamil Nadu, India, a new initiative is starting with the Irula community, focused on young people. We greatly appreciate the inspiration of all the team at Children Watch; and also one of our Advisors, Usha (Ladwa-Thomas) for enabling this to start. If you would like to financially contribute towards this, please get in touch. Thank you.

A new international initiative in response to the global pandemic: “Get One = Give One”. As some countries start to roll out Covid-19 vaccines, it’s important that people in the world’s most disadvantaged communities get access regardless of their ability to pay. To learn more and potentially contribute toward this initiative click here. With great thanks to our Advisor, Lord Paul (Tyler) and also to Nicky (Tyler) for reaching out and for inspiring action on this.

Kakuzō Okakura quote: “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”

Have a great week!

Lorna, Ian, Rosie and Ellie

Leading Courageously?!

What is courageous leadership? Nancy Koehn, a Professor at Harvard Business School, depicts a courageous leader as: “an individual who’s capable of making themselves better and stronger when the stakes are high and circumstances turn against that person. Courageous leaders are not cowed or intimidated: they realize that - in amidst turbulence - there lies an extraordinary opportunity to grow and rise.”

As we develop our new strategy, “leading courageously” has emerged very strongly. The following five principles were highlighted in a recent article about courageous leadership: authenticity; resilience; emotional intelligence; self-discipline; commitment to a purpose. To read the article click here

Celebrating young and courageous women leaders this year? In advance of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the release of a film that is being promoted by one of our partners, Paper Boat as part of a fundrasier. It is titled: “I am Belmaya”. It is a film following the life of a young woman who “takes the camera and power into her own hands”. To watch the trailer click here. To find out more and book your tickets for a private pre-relaease screening, click here.

Gathering Commitments: In the run up to the upcoming UK local elections in May, the work of The Commitment is gathering pace in the West Midlands, Derby and Dumbartonshire areas which we are targeting. The Commitment is a distinct part of Caplor Horizons. Its purpose is to: “put the climate and natural world higher up the political agenda”. For the latest monthly update click here

Nancy Koehn quote: “resilience is the capacity to not only endure great challenges, but to get stronger in the midst of them”

Have a great week!

Ian, Lorna, Rosie and Ellie