Adventures in democracy, impact gatherings and in defence of woke capitalism
A monthly digest of inspiring projects, useful resources and opportunities to create systemic change.
Hello! For anyone new here, this is my monthly digest. Each month I look out for interesting things to share with you from my travels and conversations with clients and collaborators. We’re talking culture-shifting campaigns, breakthrough technologies, impactful learning resources, funding opportunities, exciting jobs…
These digests provide you with a monthly dose of inspiration and support for all the brilliant work you do. They’ll also encourage you to look after yourself and everything you need to thrive whilst you do it. I hope you find something here to soothe your worries, lift your spirits, or inspire you into action.
Naomi Klein is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of nine critically acclaimed books including ‘Doppelganger’, ‘No Logo’, and ‘The Shock Doctrine’, published in over 30 languages. She’s also the University of British Columbia Professor of Climate Justice. Hattie Crisell is a writer and editor and host of the podcast ‘In Writing with Hattie Crisell’, in which she visits the studies of writers of all kinds – novelists, screenwriters, poets, journalists and more – to find out how they write, why they write, and what they can teach us about doing it better. Listen to her recent conversation with Naomi Klein on her writing process, including the necessity of solo writing retreats, what she gained from working with a writing tutor as an experienced author, and being “good enough company” as a writer for your readers, especially on heavy topics.
, PhD, is a climate psychologist and environmental strategist. Bridging comms, climate and organisational psychology, her work is all about transformation; transforming the way leaders show up and how they handle strategy and organisational change to meet their climate goals as an organisation. Her Project InsideOut provides resources and tools for climate action, using emotional intelligence and psychological research. Check out The Quadrants of Engagement, a simple tool she has designed to help you consider your primary theories of change when it comes to how you tackle climate and environmental action. This tool helps you to understand where your struggles lie and where you have room for new capabilities. Renee also writes , where she shared this excellent piece on the role of impact curators and convenors, ‘Convenings, Cohorts + Communities: Notes on so-called “impact” gatherings’ - a must read.
“How does it feel when you enter the convening? Is it welcoming? Exhausting? Draining? Excluding and cliquey? Energising? Is it about prestige? Are people there to network, to sell, to pitch? To connect, learn and shift default ways of being and thinking? To be transformed? To be changed? Is it about celebration and play? Escaping and indulging? What comforts are offered to soothe and enable care? Do we feel safe and held, or jostled together like lots of atoms in an accelerator? Are you fed? Whose nervous systems is this for?”
-Renee Lertzman, PhD
Munroe Bergdorf is an internationally renowned activist, model, writer and broadcaster. Appointed as British Vogue Contributing Editor in 2022, UN Women Changemaker since 2019, Munroe is a proud ambassador for gender variant and transgender youth charity Mermaids, a founding consultant of L’Oreal Paris’ UK Diversity and Inclusion Board, host of the critically acclaimed podcast ‘The Way We Are’ for Spotify, fronts MTV hit show ‘Queerpiphany’ and author of the book ‘Transitional’, published by Bloomsbury. Munroe has just announced ‘Love & Rage’, the feature-length documentary with Universal Documentaries described as “a love letter to our global trans community, a call for change within a world where transphobia has become the status quo,” to be released in 2025.
Steffi Bednarek is a psychotherapist, a consultant in climate psychology, living systems theory, and complexity thinking, and editor of the recently published book ‘Climate, Psychology & Change’. She is founder of the Centre for Climate, Psychology & Change. Read her interview with Sympoiesis Co-Founder, Niels Devisscher, ‘Reimagining Psychology at the Gates of Grief’ and join her for this upcoming seminar for professionals torn between conflicting priorities in the metacrisis on Saturday 7th December at The Conduit in London.
Eleanor Kaye is the Managing Director at Newton Venture Program, which provides venture capital training and development for aspiring and practising venture capitalists. Their mission is to level the playing field for people from typically overlooked and underestimated backgrounds, ensuring that the next generation of investors represent the world we live in. A few weeks ago, Eleanor saw a piece in CityAM which called for the end of diversity schemes and celebrated the recent opposition DEI work, or “woke capital” as it was described, has faced. She wrote this powerful piece, ‘In defence of ‘Woke Capitalism’’ in response, arguing that the philosophy underpinning DEI efforts is not only morally right, but as evidenced by multiple studies, commercially astute.
Hustle Crew provides high-impact career skills and leadership training to help teams be more inclusive. Founder Abadesi Osunsade is hiring a part-time community manager to help her increase workplace inclusion in tech and beyond. She’s looking for a confident storyteller, and someone comfortable working in a distributed team. Find out more and apply here, and read my System Changers interview (one of my faves) with the brilliant Abadesi here.
Joeli Brearley, Founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, has made the difficult decision to step down after a decade of impactful work at the charity. Joeli generously shares her thinking behind the decision in this Grazia piece ‘I’m Stepping Down From Pregnant Then Screwed – I’m Mentally And Physically Exhausted’. Huge congrats to Joeli for making such a massive impact on the progressive politics movement in the UK. You’ve shown so many people what’s possible when we stand up for what’s important and fight for change. Follow Joeli’s journey from here on IG, book her for speaking, consulting, project management or comms consultancy via her new website here, and look out for her upcoming podcast on raising boys with Elliott Rae.
Coaches Rising provides certified trainings and practical tools empowering people to be transformative coaches. I love their podcast which shares tools, tips and teachings from the world's greatest coaches. In this recent episode, host Joel Monk interviews Peter Hawkins, Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School University of Reading UK and Emeritus Chairman of Bath Consultancy Group, where for the last 25 years he has been helping organizations in many parts of the world connect their strategic change, organisational culture and leadership development. Peter has written extensively about leadership, leadership teams, coaching and supervision. In this conversation Joel and Peter explore the changing landscape of coaching, how coaches and organizations create value, the expression of nested systems, listening for culture and emergence through beauty.
Jon Alexander is Co-Founder of New Citizen Project, a participation strategy and innovation consultancy with a belief that, given the right opportunity, people can and will shape the things that matter to them for the better. He is also author of the highly inspiring book, ‘Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us’. Jon is currently hosting an ‘Adventures in Democracy’ series at The Conduit, a community for global changemakers. The next instalment ‘Adventures in Democracy: Everyone a Citizen’, is on 31st October and will explore how innovative democratic practices, such as citizen assemblies and participatory budgeting can transform governance, the ways these approaches empower marginalised voices, and how we can reimagine democracy as true “people power”. If you’re not a member you can still register for the livestream here.
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