Comms campaigns that win, post-traumatic growth, and helping children with climate emotions
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 around the internet and conversations with clients and collaborators.
We’re talking culture-shifting campaigns, rallying calls to action, breakthrough technologies, impactful learning experiences, powerful collaborations, 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.
Curating these resources is one of my favourite things to do. I hope you find something here to fuel your growth and feed your soul! I’d love to include what you’re working on. Please reach out if you’ve got something to share with us.
Positive News is the first media organisation in the world dedicated to quality, independent reporting about what's going right. Their trailblazing content partnership with outdoor advertising company Clear Channel UK will see uplifting headlines displayed on thousands of screens in public spaces in the UK.
Daisy Greenwell is Features Editor at Positive News (mentioned above). Last week she went viral when she shared a heartfelt post on Instagram, outlining her worries about the expectation children in year 5 and 6 at primary school will be given smartphones. Within 24 hours over a thousand concerned parents had joined, a day later over 50 regional groups had popped up all over the UK, Daisy and other members were interviewed live on local and national news. Check out their growing movement Smartphone Free Childhood supporting parents to change norms around children and smartphone use.
Anat Shenker-Osorio is a researcher, communications strategist, author and podcaster examining why certain messages falter and others deliver. Shenker-Osorio has led research for new messaging on issues ranging from clean energy to immigrant rights to reforming criminal justice. Her original approach combining priming experiments, task-based testing and online dial surveys has led to progressive electoral and policy victories globally. Her writing and research has been profiled in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Guardian. Season 3 of her podcast Words To Win By launched last month. Join her on a journey around the world as she unpacks real-world narrative shifts that led to real-world victories.
has been writing about the climate crisis and building the movement to fight it for decades. He wrote the first book about the topic for a general audience in 1989. He founded 350.org, the first big grassroots climate campaign, and helped spearhead the campaigns against the Keystone Pipeline and for fossil fuel divestment. He is also the founder of Third Act, which organises people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. His Substack highlights impactful work in the climate movement and shares his insights on what’s important and what’s not, where we have to push hard, and where the the leverage lies. Check out his latest piece on the biggest check any president has ever applied to the fossil fuel industry, and what it means.Third Act (mentioned above) is building a community of Americans over the age of 60 determined to change the world for the better. They host community calls, workshops and facilitated conversations each month that build skills, deepen interest and get everyone working together on the big problems of our time.
Narrative Initiative’s goal is to nourish and grow long-term progress for social justice by equipping changemakers with the necessary tools, relationships, and resources to build power and share ideas through collections of stories. The Unicorn Authors Club is a sanctuary where authors of colour and their allies finish their urgently needed books. Together they’re organising a virtual event, The Changemaker Authors Conference, on March 9th and 10th. From learning about the business of publishing to embracing the complexity of writing and writing about the transformative nature of social justice, the Changemaker Authors Conference is a space for those at all stages of their organising and writing journeys.
aims to inspire and connect designers and technologists to build more flourishing digital public spaces. Read their recent piece Beyond regulation: building Europe’s Public Digital Infrastructure. The piece starts with some helpful context on their positioning, “In general, New_ Public is more interested in creating new, prosocial products and spaces than changing the dominant, established platforms. Typically, we don’t focus on policy, like new rules and laws to curb toxicity and harm.” A great reminder that there are many different ways to create change and it can be helpful to signal your role/niche to your audience.
Many things shape our sense of agency but few are as powerful as the stories we tell ourselves - as individuals, and as a species. Tom Rivett-Carnac is a political strategist focused on a better future. He is Founding Partner at Global Optimism, co-author of The Future We Choose and host of podcast Outrage + Optimism. His recent piece for Time, The Climate Stories Our World Needs Now is a great call to action; “It’s time to intentionally put our efforts into creating and sharing stories of what is possible. Stories that bring out the most extraordinary aspects of humanity: compassion, kindness, ingenuity, and creativity.”
is an award-winning journalist, former NPR correspondent, author of five nonfiction books, speaker, and consultant. She is also a Senior Advisor at the Aspen Institute. Her Substack focuses on generational justice; how children learn, grow and thrive on a changing planet, and how we can build a child-centric society. Read her brilliant piece What Teachers And Parents Need To Know About Climate Emotions.Full Circle is a very moving documentary about two athletes, their love for skiing and the outdoors, and their fight to thrive after Spinal Cord Injury. Particularly inspiring is the contribution they’ve both made to the disabled community, both expanding what it means to be an athlete and sharing guidance on post-traumatic growth and how to live with a life-altering injury. Corbet’s book ‘Options’ interlaces his own story with those of spinal cord injury survivors from across the US. It was a foundational piece of writing about disability. You can download the PDF here.
Larger Us is a community of change-makers who share the aim of bridging divides rather than deepening them, who want to transform relationships rather than defeat enemies, and who recognise that achieving these things is about psychology as much as politics. With their climate conversations project, they’re on a mission to train people to have meaningful and inspiring conversations about climate change that help them to engage others in climate action. Read what they’ve learned from their first round of prototypes, a training to help people to have hopeful, empowering conversations about climate change.
General Purpose is London’s leading professional training centre dedicated to generative AI, helping businesses turbocharge productivity and performance through small-group, practical workshops. AI Essentials can help you understand Al and start using Al tools in just three hours, helping you complete your day-to-day tasks more efficiently and effectively. Practical and accessible, all of their courses are designed for people who could benefit from using AI in their job but aren’t software engineers or data scientists.
My friend
has just launched , Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire’s new source of independent, quality and optimistic journalism. The Knot is for people who are passionate about Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire and who are curious about how the region is changing. I’m excited to see the resurgence of quality, independent local news in the UK and look forward to following James’ journey leading regeneration in his home town.Thanks for reading! Please introduce yourself, what you’re working on, and how this resource can be helpful to you on our introductions thread. With subscribers based in 56 countries and leading systemic change in human rights, venture capital, climate and sustainability, education, psychotherapy, healthcare, media, politics, art, farming, finance, housing and philanthropy and more, System Changers is a diverse community packed full of opportunities to connect and collaborate with others. Let’s get to know each other 🧡