On Monday 2nd March, I took up my invitation from the Carnegie Trust to attend the launch of their report Race Inequality in the Workforce at the House of Commons.
The report was produced with UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Operation Black Vote and hosted by OBVs Lord Wooley.
The Right Ethos is 13 years old this month. And since the start we have always had inexperienced or no experienced, but keen, individuals looking to break into the campaigns and external affairs sector.
Our survey on the incident last Thursday with Mark Field and a Greenpeace activist has not surprisingly shown overpowering support of Greenpeace.
72% of the responder “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with the statement “Greenpeace should be congratulated on their bravery and continue to take action in this fashion”
On International Women’s Day, Debora Singer MBE, shares her experience of running a campaign that benefits women seeking asylum from human rights abuses abroad.
Just to join the praise for this committed and principled MP who died this week.
Paul Flynn became my MP in Newport West in 1987. I didn’t vote for him. I would never vote Labour and certainly less likely to given the events of this week.
Paul was a campaigner. He had intellectually robust views and then devoted his time and energy in campaigning for them.
Frank Smith has over 18 years experience working in international advocacy, leading global advocacy campaigns on a range of issues and in a range of different organisations and contexts. Over the last year he has been working as a consultant, supporting organisations develop their advocacy capacity and their advocacy strategies so as to improve their overall influence.
His advocacy work in the humanitarian, human rights and international development fields has given me a deep understanding of the international landscape. He has worked closely with different UN organisations, most recently the UNHCR, working as a consultant.
Previous employment include:
Director – No More Epidemics campaign – Management Sciences for Health, USA
Head of Policy – Plan International,
Head of Department – Middle East, Europe, Caucasus, Asia (MEECA) – Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Geneva
Director of Global Campaigns – World Vision International
A passion for story-telling really. I love running a comms team; it’s hard work, but it’s worth it, particularly as reputation and stakeholder management have never been more important. It’s making the complex understandable, relatable and relevant – so people are interesting in knowing what your organisation or cause is about. Importantly, its also how you do that visually and digitally, as well as through more traditional channels.
I’ve always loved to write – and I read everything and anything I could get my hands on when I was young, a bit like Matilda without the magic powers… So a journalist or a novelist perhaps, but I can’t say I really knew what that was at the time. As I got a bit older, I increasingly wanted to be in or around politics. I did work experience with my MP before interning at a think tank, as I wanted to be part of that world. That’s what took me into public affairs and communications.
I admire what Digital Mums does, upskilling women who’ve had a break, and helping them use their newly-gained social media talents in a flexible way. More generally, I admire people who do things differently and who aren’t constrained by what’s been done before. I love Selfish Mother and how she’s using Instagram to refresh a magazine format. I also value intellect: I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of smart people, and that’s a joy of the job.
Energy, curiosity and attention to detail. You have to be able span working a 20 hour day when the job demands it, so it helps to have natural energy, drive and resilience. As well as knowing your organisation inside out, you need to be able to spot opportunities and spaces where your comms can have a big impact, which is where the curiosity comes in! Attention to detail is up there because precision matters in good communications; you need a reputation as a trustworthy source to secure genuine media and political impact.
A great story that flies across channels is still one of my biggest highs. So much work goes into having all your ducks in a row, usually all invisible to the naked eye, but it’s worth it when it works and especially when it’s seamless across them all. Increasingly, it is also about spotting, nurturing and developing talent. I’m a mentor and a member of industry groups, and helping others make leaps forward and avoid pitfalls is rewarding – I wish I’d sought that out more when I was younger, especially when I returned to work after my first baby.
I’d encourage them to take all the opportunities that come their way – never count yourself out – and also to be active in the sector. It’s very easy to get caught up in what’s happening in your role, in your organisation. But it’s important to look around, see what others are doing, what you could learn from, who you could learn from. People need you to bring the outside in, it’s part of the job.
That’s a hard one – as there were great moments in consultancy, the civil service and in not-for-profit – all different! But I loved being part of the work Which? did on social care – pushing for action to help to tackle an emerging crisis. For maximum impact, we aligned a research-based Channel 4 exclusive with the health secretary’s party conference speech, setting out a clear set of actions needed for change and forcing a response. Being the spokesperson that day was a real high. A close second is being part of the team that shifted the early debate on payday loans and the need for stronger regulation, something that’s since become a reality. I’m at my happiest when communications and influencing drive a change for the better.
The hardest thing today is securing attention for the issues that matter to your organisation or cause when the political and news agendas are a) Brexit-heavy and b) far less predictable than they were. Cutting through requires a different approach: a real focus on your organisation’s true priorities and proper insight into your audience.
If I wasn’t a comms or corporate affairs director (and if I’d actually done a masters instead of taking my first public affairs job), perhaps I’d be teaching philosophy to undergraduates somewhere. I’d still be trying to the make the complex relatable!
To follow Laura on Twitter click here. Listen to the full interview below.
I set up The Right Ethos recruitment consultants in 2007 after 13 years working for organisations including Shelter, Save the Children and PLAN International. I was invited to speak at the Jobsharing Network Meeting on 26th April 2017 by Katherine Nightingale and Alice Allan, who Jobshare the Head of Advocacy and Policy at CARE International. The audience was a mix of Job Sharers and HR managers from leading international NGOs in the UK.
In an increasingly competitive market for top talent, charities and campaigning organisations need to be more creative with their hiring strategies. Quite often recruiting managers and human resource teams see anything non-conventional as a problem, rather than seeing and understanding that it can be a real positive.
It is not only an issue for Job Share applications, but it also covers other non-conventional issues in recruiting. This includes older candidates, candidates moving from other sectors, and candidates with experience from other countries.
This reaction against non-conventional candidates creates conservatism, with a small “c” in the sector. Quite often this means that the candidates selected for interviews are just junior versions of the recruiting manager. Therefore, the sector generally ends up with Individual, rather than job share candidates; 2-5 years younger than the recruiting manager, with similar (but less) UK based experience.
All these restrictions act as negative filters that reduce the field of potential candidates whilst also damaging the opportunities for such applicants. However, what I really care about is that it damages the organisation as it reduces the chance of appointing the best people for the job. But to reduce this conservatism it needs to come from the top.
So it is truly great that the Chief Executive of CARE International, Laurie Lee is involved with this project. It says a lot to Laurie’s and CARE International’s progressive understanding of the issue that he is involved.
The conservatism in charity recruitment will be reduced if staff are positively encouraged by charity leaders to not discount non-conventional candidates too quickly.
In terms of Job Share candidates, positive policy statements need to be made. Then they need to be shared, by discussing them and regularly reinforced to get a common understanding of the benefits that a Job Share can offer.
Also externally, particularly for hard to recruit jobs, adverts could state that Job Share applications would be welcome.
Only 6.2% of quality job vacancies are advertised with options to work flexibly. This compares poorly with the high demand for flexible work – 47% of the workforce want to work flexibly in some way.
Additionally, there could be versions for job shares on application forms. Job Sharers could be rejected at application stage purely because an application form cannot accommodate the prospect of two people applying for one job.
The issue for Job Shares is not just in recruitment – but this is where the biggest challenge lies. There also needs to be a progressive approach to allow Job Shares to happen for an organisation’s existing staff.
The best route to working part-time in a job share is to go from full-time to part-time or to be in the right place for recruiting candidates for the other part of the job share. However, charity leaders need to be more open to this and appreciate the benefits.
Charities wanting to maintain their leadership pipeline can’t afford to lose strong talent, especially their women, who generally make up the majority of their workforce. But job shares are not exclusively women – they are also parents, carers and disabled people.
My main concern and the reason behind why I want to see change is that not maximising job sharing is bad for the organisations. But, having worked for Liberty and Amnesty International before starting The Right Ethos, I care about the rights of the individual too.
Lack of job shares is unfair on the individual. Part-time workers earn less per hour than their full-time counterparts at every level of qualification. Highly talented people who need to work flexibly cannot do so at their level so are taking jobs below their level in order to find work that matches their needs. Even worse there are highly talented people who are not working but seeking part-time work.
A progressive approach led by trustees and senior management is required – based on the primary, self-interested, motivation being the best talent available for the charity or campaigning organisation is maximised.
This proactive approach will make HR and recruiting managers feel comfortable about promoting Job Shares. And not feeling that Job Shares applications are causing problems for their bosses and colleagues.
And as you may be able to tell, I have my own personal agenda around Job Sharing. Most notably, with regards to the unfair treatment of highly talented individuals and the wasted opportunities that the campaigns I care about, don’t take in not being open to Job Shares.
However, as a recruitment consultant, I have to work to my client’s agendas, not my own. So The Right Ethos ends up having a more conservative attitude to recruitment than we would wish to have. We do try and slip in unconventional highly talented candidates – but more often than not they get caught in the net of conformity.
But there is some legislation that will hopefully focus the mind of senior management when it comes to flexible working. From 6th April 2017, all businesses and charities with more than 250 employees are now legally required to collect data on the gap between the average hourly pay of the men and women who work there.
Closing the gender pay gap will have a positive effect on the workplace as a whole in many ways, from basic issues of fairness and the benefits of a diverse workforce to the importance of having pathways that support women into senior roles.
Here is an excerpt from the House of Common’s Women and Equalities Committee’s 2016 report:
“Flexible working for all lies at the heart of addressing the gender pay gap… A large part of the gender pay gap is down to women’s concentration in part-time work that doesn’t make use of their skill…. Old-fashioned approaches to flexibility in the workplace and a lack of support for those wishing to re-enter the labour market are also stopping employers from making the most of women’s talent and experience.”
So for employers who are keen to address their gender pay gap, taking action to improve their flexible credentials is an excellent place to start.
People who work in a flexible way tend to outperform from a productivity point of view and tend to stay longer and are more loyal. It’s not just about attracting talent but retaining it.
It’s 2017 and things have got to change. Thus, I hope this group can play a major part in helping change things for fairness to individuals and for the good of the charity and campaigning sector.
Everything! But I do also have wonderful volunteers who help at craftivism workshops and events. Plus, when I can, I subcontract photographers, filmmakers and designers to help me turn my visions into the best reality possible.
I wanted to be an artist, carpenter and run ‘Corbett’s Cosy Café’ on the weekends.
So many! The Godfather of the UK charity sector Duncan Green obvs. The fearless Control Arms Director Anna Macdonald. The ‘Thoughtful Campaigner’ Tom Baker. My Scouse Shero Margaret Aspinall of the Hillsborough Family Support Group. The mighty Micah M. White who is a pioneer and critical friend to campaigners globally. If I had to pick one person it would be Ann Roach (IDAT) – she is everyone’s “nin” (i.e. grandmother) in West Everton where I was born and grew up – she continues to campaigns tirelessly for justice where structures and systems are stopping people fulfill their potential in our patch and I often ask myself “What would Ann do?” when I get stuck.
I call my approach to activism ‘gentle protest’. It’s not weak and passive but about loving and encouraging activism. I would say to be a Gentle Protester you need: 1) To be mindful of the baggage you bring to your activism (whether that’s preconceived views on those directly effected by injustice or those in power) so you don’t let your baggage fog your strategy or cause barriers with those you are trying to engage. 2) Eye for detail – remember that language can be just as violent as physical actions, colour effects our emotions, even fonts can sway people. Be intentional in every element of your campaign from the way you greet people to sending them a follow up thank you letter for their time. Detail matters. 3) Act out your vision – if you want a more beautiful, kind and just world then make sure your activism is beautiful, kind and fair otherwise your campaign is offering opportunity for people to discredit your campaign and cause.
I’m going to be cheeky and say two ‘rewards’: 1) Knowing that I helped challenge and change systems of injustice and oppression sometimes in a big way and sometimes small way alongside others. 2) Receiving messages online or in handwritten letters from people who say that they didn’t think they “fitted into activism” as shy, burnout, introverted or differently-abled people until they saw from my work that they could also do activism in a quiet, gentle, slow or introverted way that is just as valued and useful as other forms of activism.
I don’t know any other full time craftivists and I had no idea I would be in this role so that’s a difficult one. But to anyone who wants to be a full time activist I would say do the tough, unglamorous work you won’t get any praise for at the beginning (and throughout your career if/when you can) but lays strong foundations for your future work. e.g. find a way to mobilise people to be at Parliament in Robin Hood Tax outfits giving out fake newspapers to politicians going into work 7am, go to meetings of those directly affected by injustices if you can (or read their stories), listen at the back and ask how you can help them not stand at the front and talk at people. Do everything you are asking supporters to do from meeting your MP to engaging with drunk people at festivals in your muddy wellies. Be mindful of slipping into the obvious campaign formulas without questioning them but also be aware of doing ‘wacky’ things for their own sake that don’t actually help your campaign.
I loved helping to shape and deliver the DFID-funded Platform2 programme, which engaged 18-25 year olds from ‘disadvantaged’ (I hate that term!) backgrounds in global poverty and campaigning. As a craftivist I feel privileged to lovingly challenge the charity sector (and the charity sector graciously listening) to offer more ‘gentle protest’ approaches within the activism toolkit to supporters and helping many organisations do just that in the charity sector and the arts sector. Such as offering slower forms of activism actions to engage more deeply and critically in the complexities of social justice, creating objects to provoke not preach at people on and offline about injustice, framing campaign asks using positive psychology elements and even offering gifts to power holders to encourage them to use their power for good rather than annoying them where possible. I am very grateful to still work with the charity sector: It’s a safe space to question and challenge each other in a respectful way because we are all part of a common cause.
Boring answer but money: My work is about helping people transform into effective activists & campaigners not just to support Craftivist Collective campaigns but also other issues they care about locally and globally and help them think holistically about their impact as a global citizen. I purposefully don’t offer quick transactional actions that are easier to measure quantitative data because I think as a sector we are missing out on deep and critical engagement with people because it’s harder to measure that qualitative data. But grant-givers and individual donors often want evidence of quick and media-worthy wins which stunts the potential impact campaign organisations like mine can have that are less tangible but just as important. (IMHO)
Greenpeace for always being a catalyst for conversation on issues that are often not in the news until Greenpeace shine a creative spotlight on them, ShareAction for their quieter activism that is often behind the scenes but has had life-saving results. Fashion Revolution for their what I call their ‘intriguing activism’ model that engages fashion-lovers to ask #whomademyclothes directly to brands via social media – their positive, non-judgemental and curios approach to activism attracts the audience the fashion industry is highly influenced by – the fashionistas!
I’ve been an activist since I was 3 (squatting with my parents and community to save local social housing in Everton – which we won), my degree focused on social change through religions and theology and I’ve only ever worked in campaigning and public engagement so no one would employ me! I was a shop girl from the age of 13 years until my first proper salaried job in the charity sector so maybe I could go back into that? In the near future I would maybe like to teach creative campaigning at universities (I do that ad hoc at different uni’s around the world) but only if I could continue to be a practicing campaigner too. Activist for life for sure!
To learn more about Craftivist Collective, visit the website or follow their campaign on Twitter & Instagram.
I am passionate about making sure people have the best possible lives at work, but too often big companies aren’t held accountable for creating quality jobs. I’m drawn to the approach of ShareAction in focusing on the investment system because investors, like our pension funds, have an important role to play to help tackle that challenge. Through their influence over the companies they invest in, they have the power to encourage companies to create quality jobs. After all, money talks!
When I was younger, I was more interested in the role of governments than the private sector, so was interested in roles within politics or policy advocacy.
I’m a huge fan of the work of Sarah Corbett at the Craftivist Collective – she’s a delight to work with and her approach is really moving campaigning forward by thoughtfully and artistically engaging with decision-makers as people!
For my role, the three most important attributes are: 1) Being able to build strong relationships with a wide variety of people, 2) Being up for constant learning and 3) Being happy with and able to manage a variety of tasks and projects!
In the big picture, I find the impact this work the most rewarding – it’s amazing how powerful working with investors can be. On the day to day, I find nothing more rewarding than being able to introduce brilliant people who might work in very different roles but could really benefit from being in touch.
Nothing has helped me learn more than being open to feedback and asking for it! I find just talking to people the most valuable way of learning about new perspectives and approaches, and to digging into the details of why and how you could have approached something differently.
Getting investors behind the Living Wage campaign has been incredibly exciting – I never would have imagined it would get the traction it eventually did. It was so cool to see what a powerful alliance built up, and filled with lovely and passionate people.
I think there is a big challenge in the grant funding model for charities. Short grants for new work make it difficult to stick with campaigns long enough to see them through!
I’m so inspired by the work of Global Witness and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. For me, they both embody the spirit of doing great work in research and building up expertise, and working through a combination of strategies to make sure this research and expertise go to practical use to make change happen.
A psychotherapist or counsellor.
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