Standing up to Trump, taxing the rich, and storytelling for systems change
A monthly digest of inspiring projects, useful resources and opportunities to create systemic change.
Good morning! For anyone new here, this is my monthly digest.
Every month I keep a record of all the inspiring people and projects I discover in my my work as a coach to people creating positive change in the world. I look for powerful examples of leadership, goosebumps-inducing creativity, insightful analysis and supportive resources.
These digests aim to provide a regular dose of motivation and encouragement for all the brilliant work you do. They’ll also guide you to look after yourself and everything you need to thrive whilst you do it. I hope you discover something here that sparks your curiosity, nourishes your spirit, or inspires meaningful action.
As always, thank you for being here. Attention is a precious resource these days, and I’m grateful for yours 🧡
p.s. Did you know we have enough clothes on the planet to clothe the next 6 generations of people?
ACTionism is both a documentary and a toolkit, which define the word ACTionism as "the art of finding your people and taking collective action." The film follows Ellie who left school with the same crippling climate anxiety that many young people have. But her journey leads her to finding hope, new friends and a better way of life. She learns to identify as a citizen in a community, rather than just a consumer in a market. Watch to feel a sense of agency, find joy and make a living in a world under threat. The toolkit is for everyone who has set up a community-led project which aims to make a positive impact for both people and planet.
Kasley Killam is an expert in social health and the author of The Art and Science of Connection. I loved her short piece in Wired’s science section on social health, ‘Give Your Social Health a Decent Workout’, which provides guidance on how to start small, build your social connection muscles, and think big when it comes to your role in shaping a more socially healthy future.
The Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde created ripples of solidarity, courage and hope around the world this week when, during her sermon at the Washington National Cathedral prayer service on Trump’s first full day in office, she pleaded with the new president to protect immigrants and respect gay rights. I was intrigued by Second Lady Usha Vance’s reaction, compared to the rest of the Trump clan. One for the history books.
The School for Moral Ambition is on a mission to help as many people as possible take the step towards a job with a positive impact. They believe in the power of small groups of driven individuals to bring about big changes in the world. With their fellowships, they bring together talented, ambitious people to tackle the most urgent problems of our time. Their next fellowship is focused on tax justice and will invite a SWAT-team of 12 tax specialists to fight for tax fairness and a global billionaire’s tax. Find out more, watch Founder Rutger Bregman’s micdrop moment at Davos, and donate here.
is a weekly newsletter sharing podcasts focused on impact and calls to action you can participate in. Curator Ayo Oti used to work in Audience Development as a Social Impact Editor at Spotify, supporting the editorial strategy for shows such as The Journal from The Wall Street Journal x Gimlet / Spotify, The Sum of Us from Higher Ground Productions x Spotify, Heavyweight and How to Save a Planet. Check out her annual roundup, ‘Best of Impactful Podcasts 2024’, which celebrate podcasts highlighting a societal issue in compelling and solutions-oriented ways.
‘Seeds of Hope’ was an experimental UK-based project to explore how culture and creativity can build belief in better futures. Instigated in the early days of the new UK government last year, and amid concern about the rise of far-right populism, the project aimed to reflect the hope and solidarity that exists in communities all over the UK. They commissioned a diverse series of creative, hopeful initiatives all over Britain, from festivals of imagination to exhibitions, celebrations of disabled joy to equinox rituals. Learn about these projects and what the Seeds of Hope team learned about growing hope here.
Milly Shotter is an independent consultant working on social and environmental issues from a systemic perspective. With a background in impact investing and tech for good, she now provides multi-disciplinary support for early stage initiatives such as Patriotic Millionaires UK, TransCap Initiative and Climate and Cities. She recently shared an amazing resource, The Spheres of Storytelling for System Change. Check out her helpful guide on the distinctions between Narrative Sensemaking, System Narrative and Narrative Intervention here.
For 12 years, from 2011 to 2023, The Cares Family helped people find community and connection in a disconnected age. They were a family of six charities that brought people together across different generations, backgrounds and experiences to build community and connection, belonging and trust in lonely, polarising times. They also campaigned for community and connection to sit at the heart of policymaking, culminating in their guidance of the creation of the world's first-ever government-level loneliness strategy. Their report, ‘Building Connection: Exploring What Works’, explains the ten techniques that helped them bring together 26,000 older and younger people in London, Liverpool and Manchester over 12 years.
Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy was the 19th & 21st Surgeon General of the United States and Vice Admiral of the United States Public Health Service. Convinced that loneliness in America has become prevalent enough to count as an epidemic, and seeing loneliness as a root cause playing a substantial role in many other social problems, as he finished his tenure as Surgeon General this year he wrote A Parting Prescription for America, a personal perspective on the importance of community as a formula for fulfilment and wellbeing.
The National Trust is Europe’s largest conservation charity. The organisation cares for more than 780 miles of coastline, 250,000 hectares of land, 500 historic houses, castles, parks, and gardens, and nearly a million works of art in the UK. To celebrate their 130th anniversary this year, they’ve set out “moonshot” plans to restore nature, end unequal access to nature, beauty and history, and inspire millions more people to care and take action in the UK. These include proposals to create 250,000 hectares of nature-rich landscape, equivalent to one equivalent to one-and-a-half times the size of Greater London – on its own land and off it in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which amounts to ten times the amount of landscape it has restored over the last decade. Learn more about how they’re responding to the climate and nature crises and how you can get involved here.
is a multi-award winning British investigative journalist with the Guardian & Observer whose investigative work exposed the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. She started her Substack a few months ago, with the goal of understanding and confronting power and holding it to account in the new ‘Age of Broligarchs’. Her incredible piece Total Information Collapse provides helpful analysis on what she calls “the merger of Silicon Valley and an authoritarian US state.” is a former cultural studies professor turned Culture Writer for Buzzfeed, turned author. Her latest book is ‘Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home’ and she writes the hugely popular Substack . I discovered her work in 2019 when she was interviewed by Ezra Klein for his podcast episode, ‘Work as Identity, Burnout as Lifestyle’, after her Buzzfeed piece on millennial burnout went viral. Her analysis hit home for me and catalysed a move out of my VC job in London to building a totally different way of life in Portugal. I appreciated her recent roundup of helpful commentary on leaving social social media, ‘The Social Media Sea Change’.My brilliant friend
is an internal culture and community consultant and the Founder of , a research and design lab reimagining the way we work and live in a modern world. I really enjoyed my interview with her on how I live and work these days, the journey I took to get here, and what’s coming next.Thanks for reading! If you found this digest helpful, please hit the 🤍 below and share it with a colleague or friend.
For anyone new here, my name is Gen and I’m a coach working 1:1 with people who lead systemic change. Our work together helps them take on the world’s toughest problems with greater impact and wellbeing. My clients work in fields such as climate change, human rights and mental health, and they lead change in many different ways, as funders, filmmakers, charity leaders and technologists, to name a few. You can connect with me here on LinkedIn.
At the heart of my work is the belief that each of us can make a unique and powerful contribution to a better future, and that our path to creating great change starts within. That’s what I write about here on Substack.
With you always in solidarity and hope,
Gen
Thanks for sharing Sounds Like Impact! Another great round-up from you :-)