The Transition Institute supports a growing network of people involved in forming new models of public service organisations, through inspiring, community-building, sharing best practice, collaborating and enhancing communication.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

I run an agency that is a development organisation for social enterprises.  We have over 3,100 members and we support them with training, information, advice and consultancy.

Is social enterprise a form of business that leads to connecting people and making borders unnecessary?

Yes! The energy created by connecting people that otherwise wouldn’t be connected and finding a way of working together is the nature of social enterprise. That definitely connects peoples and obliterates borders.

What is your experience of working across borders?

I’ve been all over the world with SEL and social enterprises are everywhere, whether or not they operate under this name. Every country, regardless of its economic or political background has them. They find it easy to work with each other and to connect regardless of the context, as they share the same principles and ideas.

What are your biggest professional achievements?

I’m proud of launching the Social Enterprise Journal. It’s an emerging centre of excellence around new models of public service delivery and it’s the only journal that provides scholarly articles about social enterprise. It has an international audience and publishes articles about social enterprises from around the world.

I am also proud of the Transition Institute that I founded in partnership with NESTA and which I currently chair. Since we started we’ve managed to connect with many partners, such as the Co-operative, ACEVO and RSA [Royal Society for Arts]. This is the first platform in this country that sets benchmarks in research in the social enterprise engagement with the public sector. It provides a space where the critical issues of public sector services engagement can be debated and helps others tackle the obstacles to sustainable, independent public services.

Prior to SEL you were the CEO of WEB (Women Education in Building). Some people would find your desire to promote women’s education in the construction trade surprising, given the traditional gender-based division of labour. Do you think that gender within the Third Sector matters?

Women’s education and building have a lot of in common. They both challenge people’s perception and are all about new ways of thinking. And in that sense I’ve been consistent. It is different being a woman in any walk of life. You need to be a little bit better, and this applies both to the 3rd sector and construction business.

What is your understanding of ‘connecting women across borders’?

It’s really vital to connect women. Women struggle to achieve the same level of confidence as their male counterparts. Making connections is vital to provide women with a platform and network through which they can gain self-belief that will enable them to work through all of the obstacles. Networks are crucial to help women understand their capabilities, persevere, learn from each other and be inspired with other women’s stories of success, in order to to take control of their lives and work towards their own success.

What would  be your top tip for someone who wants to make meaningful connections in the Third Sector?

You need to make sure that you make a difference. You may have something in common with other people, like you both want to make a business with women,  but if you are not advancing their position, if you’re not helpful, you’re not going to build a strong network, people are not going to address you when they need something. Focus on making a difference to people’s work.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Never give up. Just have a courage of your conviction.

What does your company do?

The non-profit sector, including social enterprises in China is very new and young. I’m researching the UK and Europe for intermediary organisations and projects that are set up to support the Chinese sector. I’m creating networks, providing support links for the non-profits and other services across the borders and within China. There are only about 1-2 organisations that are intermediaries, so it’s a very fresh market. Through these exchanges and joint projects, I’d like to bring awareness, ideas and best practise from the UK to China.

What does the Chinese non-profit sector look like at the moment?

At the beginning, in the 1990s, most  Chinese NGOs were focused on environment, with all of the environmental problems that is not surprising. There is still a huge network of people working on the environment, but now people are working for all kinds of causes.  Some interesting groups are growing around health issues – from mental health through to genetic problems and care for the elderly.

Does being a woman in the Chinese emerging non-profit sector help?

Being a foreign woman makes a difference and possibly gives you some extra privileges. Being able to speak Chinese and being foreign makes you quite special, as it’s not expected of you. The Chinese third sector is women-dominated, which I think is a global phenomenon. In some sense, it’s easier for women to excel in the sector because there are fewer men who will support each other and push each other further, blocking these positions for women. Though China declares total gender equality, the glass ceilings are prevalent and the non-profit sector is no different. What’s interesting in the non-profit sector is that when you get to work with charities which are more clearly connected, and dependant on the Chinese government, they will be more male dominated.

How does the non-profit sector fit in with the Chinese political system?

The not for profit sector is hugely affected by the politics!  Political sensitivities have risen in the last 4 months and any big changes or large field-based projects are suspended, awaiting more stable times. Small scale NGOs are still working, but anything they do that is considered sensitive is put on hold. There is a feeling of tiptoeing around. Hopefully the Government is going to change in September and, after giving them some time to adjust, things should go back to normal.

What’s your understanding of connecting women across borders?

The reason I decided to create Linking China is because, after some research in China, I have found out that people want to be connected. Chinese non profits desperately want cross-border exchanges, insights from abroad and new partners.

Relationships in China are hugely important, for instance, establishing a rapport with a client and regular contact before official co-operation starts is really important. This is the way everyone operates here, and so connecting people fits with the Chinese culture and has a huge value.

Of course, when connecting people, language plays an important part. For instance, one way to prevent quasi-governmental groups from entering the non-profit sector and exercising their pressure here is not providing the translators. The young, mid-level Chinese leaders speak some English and can make connections without translators.  This makes forging connections without the influence of Chinese government possible.

Happy Friday y’all, and welcome to a special American edition of RADAR. The stars spangling our banner this week include: The Komen Foundation’s big mistake, the difference between passion and competence, philanthropy in America, how social innovation can help fix government, and non-profits and the State of the Union.

Before we get into it, I’ve noticed the number of RADAR readers has jumped recently, so welcome to all you newbies. If you want people to be added to the RADAR list, or if you’ve been forwarded this email and want to sign up, please go here and look for the RADAR box.

The Komen Foundation
This fascinating story of a bad decision made even worse by a terrible PR response has been covered far and wide this week, but is still well worth digging into. In short: The Komen Foundation (a cancer charity) stopped giving grant money to Planned Parenthood (a women’s charity unpopular with conservatives because a small percentage of its money funds abortions). Despite Komen’s protestations, the move has been seen as an overtly political decision directly endangering the health of women across the country, and has sparked a widespread and incredibly effective backlash. As a result, Planned Parenthood has already raised $400,000 in additional donations, Komen has been forced to reinstate the funding, and the VP of Komen (who was probably behind the decision) has been forced to resign. Read a very good Politico summary here, read an account of the social media backlash here, and watch the wonderful Stephen Colbert’s famous defense of Planned Parenthood here.

Passion Vs. Competence
Found this article on HBR this week pretty interesting. It focused on the importance of not confusing passion for competence. Though it focuses on innovators, there are parallels with other sectors and I think it’s particularly interesting with an eye on the charity sector. I was on a panel at UCL last night talking about careers in the third sector, and I was interested that the recruiters there told the students not to overdo their ‘passion’ in their applications and to focus more on practical skills. I wondered whether the increasing professionalisation of our sector means that employers are wary of people who are too ruled by passion, or whether passion is just taken as read now for people applying to work in the sector. Anyway, read the HBR article here.

Philanthropy in America
The Guardian this week reported on the annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest American philanthropists. The report showed that charitable donations in America, while yet to reach pre-recession levels, are rising as the US economy improves. I’m a sucker for this kind of list for two main reasons; it’s fascinating to see the causes that matter to some of the richest people in the world, and also to see their background, in particular the prominence of ‘tech’ wealth (and that’s even without Bill Gates). Read the article here, have a look at the top ten here.

Social Innovation and Government
Interesting video interview on Co.Exist this week with Paul Carttar, who is is the director of the Social Innovation Fund. He talks here about how government can be a catalyst for change by facilitating the best solutions that have already been proven successful by the people who know. Watch it here.

The State of the Union
Way behind on this one from The Nonprofit Quarterly, but I’ve only just read it. It takes a look at Obama’s State of the Union at the end of January, and looks at what it means for the non-profit sector. Rick Cohen writes: “The 2012 State of the Union was a jobs and class speech, touting a mix of incentives and disincentives to stimulate U.S. job growth and retention, but the social programs needed and relied upon by the bulk of working class and lower income Americans were all but invisible in the president’s talk and the nonprofit sector was also missing in action”. Read the whole thing here.

Donor Advocacy
There was a piece in Civil Society this week about the effectiveness of ‘funder advocacy’, and the potential for collaboration between funders and the government in the UK. It reported on a review of The Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition (CIFC), a three-year collaboration of 22 grantmaking trusts and foundations, which showed that the coalition achieved outcomes that individual trusts and foundations could not have achieved alone. The review also outlined the underlying tension between governments and trusts/foundations, saying: “Government interest in independent funders is primarily to do with their money, whereas trusts and foundations are keen to avoid the substitution of government funds”. Read the Civil Society piece click here, to read a fuller blogpost click here, and to download the review as a PDF click here.

Women in the Voluntary Sector
Frequent Third Sector Women contributor and all round good egg Rowenna Lewis released her report Close To Parity this week. The research, undertaken as part of her Clore Social Leadership fellowship, showed the glass ceiling still firmly in place in the third sector. She writes: “Women are starkly absent from the leadership of major charities. Among those charities turning over £10m the proportion of women in leadership positions plummets to 27%”. This despite the fact that nearly 7 out of 10 employees in the sector are female. I don’t think this is necessarily new, it was the focus of a Third Sector Women event last year and is the basic reason for the existence of the network, but it is still very powerful to see it in black and white. Read Rowenna’s piece on the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network here, and Civil Society coverage here.

Bill Gates’ Annual Letter
The founder of The Gates Foundation this week produced his annual letter, which outlines the trajectory for the foundation in the year ahead. This year’s letter focused on innovation, in particular innovation in agriculture, and its role in fighting extreme poverty around the world. Read the letter, fascinating from beginning to end, here, and read a profile of Gates in the Telegraph here. Gates was joined at the launch by Hand Rosling, the statistician. If you haven’t heard of Rosling you’re missing out, see his work in this video, and follow him on Twitter.

Lafley Vs Jobs
Continuing the theme of American technology pioneers, a piece on HBR this week compares Steve Jobs’ ability to give consumers what they didn’t know they wanted with P&G CEO Adam Lafley’s investment in using market research to understand what the consumer wants. The piece goes on to look at intuition vs. research and is available here.

Innovation in Higher Education
The RSA’s Matthew Taylor was worth following on his blog this week. He asked readers for thoughts on a proposed speech about innovation higher education, then gave his initial reaction to the RSA jobs summit, then continued the conversation on innovation. Read the posts, in order, here, here and here.

1. Where do you work and what is your role?

I work at Which as the Head of Advocacy, I head up a team [involved in] campaigning strategy, public affairs and lobbying. It’s about thinking what we want to change and how.

2. What did you want to be when you were younger?

A jewellery designer, or a gardener

3. What’s the best thing about your job?

Creativity is really important. Working on so many different issues is brilliant – you come in one day and talk to someone about strategy on energy prices, then have meeting with politician about consumer rights. There is an amazing breadth of issues. It’s extremely motivating to work in a way that makes a genuine difference

4. Dispel one myth about working in the third sector.

The idea that everyone is really worthy. People do care deeply about what they want to achieve, people are mission driven but they are normal people!

5. If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would you be doing?

I’d quite like to be a lawyer, I’ve had quite a lot of time with the in-house lawyers, it is really and using the law as a tool to achieve change is really interesting.

6. What has been your greatest achievement to date?

In work, I would say probably the fact I led a campaign that helped millions of people who could have lost money on their endowments mortgages in 2002.

7. Who do you admire the most and why?

I really admire strong women who challenge the status quo… I admire women who enter a traditionally male dominated world to do something

8. What one thing could you not live without?

I wouldn’t want to live without my garden.

9. What is your biggest vice?

Unless it’s illegal I don’t think vices exist really

10. What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

It’s always good to have strong views but sometimes it’s best to think about sharing them, when they pop into your mind.

11. What is the biggest challenge faced by women in the third sector today?

It’s balancing family life and work; I work full time, my husband looks after the kids. On the whole it is still women who will tend to adjust their hours to accommodate a balanced family life. It will remain a challenge to women’s progression and status.

12. What is the moment you would most like to relive?

I won an award for campaigning once, and it was just really fun

13. What advice would you give to someone entering the charity sector?

Try out all the different roles and opportunities it can offer, don’t make an assumption you should stay in one position. if you are coming in young, try it all.

14. Describe the charity sector in three words.

Essential, powerful, responsible

Louise Hanson, Head of Campaigns, Which?

If you would like to take part in a 60 second interview, or want to nominate an interviewee, please contact amy@vanillaventures.co.uk

The voluntary sector is the women’s sector – 68% of our employees are female and women are more likely to give both as volunteers and as donors. Surely the sector should be doing more to ensure that women’s equality is protected? In January, Rowena Lewis, 2010 Clore Social Fellow will launch a groundbreaking new study into the experiences of voluntary sector women leaders and will challenge sector leaders to do more to ensure that our sector champions social justice not just in wider society but amongst its own people. Watch this space and join the debate…

The event took place on the 3rd November at The Commonwealth Club. The recipe was simple: a glass of champagne, lots of fabulous women happy to chat, and great food! Perfect. And enough to persuade any hard working woman at the end of a long day that she could take a bit of time out to play before dashing home and getting on with life.

I immediately noticed how we were all very happy to take part in the speed networking, only too willing to not be responsible for the process or any decisions, probably explained by the fact we spend most days “in charge” of something.

Rosamund McCarthy from BWB set the tone perfectly as host and there were some true moments of inspiration. For me, Dame Julia Cleverdon, the keynote speaker, took the prize as my favourite woman of the night – the fact that she had to delay her talk to take a call from Prince Charles post his evening bath made us all smile. Her advice that we should only spend time with “people who make us feel good” and her openness about ferocious divorces and life challenges had me hooked.

I spoke to Rowena Lewis and Vik Anderson, colleagues doing great work and who provide me with regular brain power, as well as meeting new women like Penny Egan from the US-UK Fulbright Commission who encouraged me to discover cultural gems in Spitalfields and swapped notes on working with young talented graduate leaders.

I left thinking how easy it can be for women to support one another and make each other “feel good” and how we just don’t do it enough. I also reflected on how unusual it was to be in a leadership group of only women, waited on by only men! Thank you BWB and I hope there are many more.

Rachel Whale

Join TSW for the second Lunch & Learn session of 2012 on the topic of Connecting Women Across Borders.

At this Lunch & Learn we will hear from speakers with diverse experiences of working across borders, both literal and figurative, in the charity and private sectors. The speakers will share their insights and offer advice on how women can make successful, meaningful and sustainable connections locally and globally in a world where borders and boundaries of all kinds are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

When: 12pm-2pm on Wednesday 23rd May 2012
Where: Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP, 2-6 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YH, located in ScandinavianHouse

Tickets for the event are FREE and will be available to book on Eventbrite from midday on Friday 27th April. *Please note places are limited to TWO per organisation. If you are unsuccessful in booking a ticket please join our waiting list by emailing Amy at info@vanillaventures.co.uk

Third Sector Women (TSW) is one of several ventures developed by Vanilla, a social impact business creating fresh opportunities for people, non profit organisations and communities. TSW events are open to anyone with an interest in the third sector and a passion for connecting people across borders. To find out more about Vanilla or TSW visit: www.vanillaventures.co.uk

Best wishes,

Third Sector Women