Make An Impact Podcast

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Marcella Tarable is the co founder of Food for Thought, an initiative which invites people from agencies to donate their skills to help a social enterprise or charity, in exchange for a nice lunch.

Marcella says she wanted to found ways to "redeem her soul" – her background is in advertising – and do something purposeful. But it was hard to find initiatives to support social enterprises which is why she launched Food for Thought.

She describes some of the social enterprises Food for Thought has worked with and just how much can be achieved during their two-hour sprints.

What next?

• Visit Food for Thought here
• Marcella is on Twitter here 
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

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Video is like a match which starts the fire to cook a meal, says Ravinol Chambers. He's worked with numerous social enterprises, social investors and partners such as TedX London,  making stories which cross boundaries since 2009.

Ravinol's debut documentary Road to Vrindavan is a feature film examining the impact and importance of education for girls in India and what we must all do to make progress in gender equity.

Ravinol tells us more about this ‘heartbreaking yet incredibly hopeful’ film, and the personal journey to make it. This episode also covers his life for seven years as a monk, why he started Be Inspired Films (one of the UK's founding B Corps), and what makes film such a powerful and visceral medium (but what it shouldn't be used for).

What next?

• Pre-register to watch Road to Vrindavan  at its UK Premiere which will screen online between March 31st - April 4th here and learn more about the film or organise your own screening here
• Malala Yousafzai said of the film: “The voices of girls and young women in this movie remind us of the urge and urgency for equality and education right now. It also beautifully highlights working with men and boys as an important step towards change.”
• Visit Be Inspired Films
• Watch video highlights from the 2021 GenderSmart Global Investing Summit
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first
  
  

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

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Amy Eleftheriades has worked with children, young people and vulnerable adults in social care, health and education for over twenty years.

A qualified teacher, Amy founded and runs Alpha Inclusion and Communication, which works with neurodivergent young people and adults. Amy describes how her business, a social enterprise, develops individuals' essential skills.

Alpha supports professionals and parents; enabling them to improve communication and education for children and young people. It also acts in the workplace, helping people reach their potential by enabling teams,  organisations and businesses to become more accessible for their clients and workforce.

Why and how did Amy get into this field? What made her set up Alpha Inclusion and Communication in 2012? And how can Lego support communication skills and language development?

Amy, author of three books including "Building Blocks for Communication - Activities for Promoting Language and Communication Skills in Children with Special Educational Needs," explains.

What next?

• Alpha Inclusion and Communication 
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

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Tiny changes in how you use technology can make a profound impact on your carbon footprint.

By thinking about the entire life cycle of a product, from raw materials to what happens when it really can't serve its original purpose, social and purpose-driven entrepreneurs can re-evaluate what tools they use and when to replace them.

In this episode, Heidi covers proactive and realistic steps you can take right away to ensure you don't just consume and create for the sake of it. 

And she examines issues to consider when it comes to the economic impact of your activities.

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

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Cath Harris runs One World Women, a social enterprise connecting experienced business women with ambitious female entrepreneurs from developing countries.

Cath experienced burnout after growing her first business which she sold in 2016. On a holiday to the Gambia she met Ida Cham, an ' extraordinary woman' who runs her own cooking school and makes micro-loans to help women run their own businesses. That conversation and the gaps in support Ida outlined to Cath, became the spark for One World Women.

Its programmes take place in-country and online, catalysing real impact for all and unlocking entrepreneurship. What changes for participants as a result? Cath explains.

Entrepreneurs have differing resources available to manage their businesses in different places and it's important for mentors to understand this context; Cath gives examples. The programmes have needed to adapt this year and Cath explains how. And she describes who becomes mentors and why.

What Cath originally thought would be a simple idea when she launched One World Women has become much bigger. She covers its ambitious plans to scale for the long-term and how its programmes will create opportunities for women the world over to flourish and help their communities grow.

What next?

• One World Women CIC on LinkedIn. Also here on Twitter and Facebook
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

Send us Fan Mail

Embedding social impact into your supply chain is much wider than just 'buying from social enterprises.' 

It's possible to unlock enormous and complementary social, environmental and economic impacts  through social procurement and Heidi describes how, with examples, in this episode.

We go into depth about what to think about, how to start, and how to measure supplier-generated impact. There are numerous baby steps you can take, which Heidi describes. And we look at emerging areas of social impact such as the climate impact of technology and cloud-computing.

This practical episode is essential listening for social entrepreneurs wanting to support and encourage suppliers to create social impact.

Also in this episode:

• the implications of social value becoming a 'requirement' rather than a 'consideration' in central government contracts
• how to avoid being 'tender-fodder' and exploited by larger contractors for the impact you can deliver
• why over-prescriptive commissioning can destroy innovation
• a hard-won lesson learned

Heidi's new book explains everything you need to know about impact measurement and management and how to implement it in your organisation.

Get your copy first! Pre-order one of the limited number of hardback versions of
Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

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Tina Chen is the founder and chief tea officer at HumaniTea which sells ready-to-drink cold tea latte drinks made with natural and ethically-sourced ingredients.

HumaniTea is a social enterprise and commits 5% of profits to support wellbeing and sustainability initiatives. Tina was originally inspired by the Taiwanese bubble tea concept and the British tea drinking culture while studying her MBA at Imperial College London.

She tells Heidi about HumaniTea's journey from idea to brand to a need to rebrand because of trade mark opposition. Then, agains the odds, Tina ran a successful crowdfunding campaign securing over £13,100 from over 100 backers earlier in 2020.

Tina also covers how she's found suppliers and sourced her ingredients,  HumaniTea's wellbeing and sustainability fund and getting her products to market. Support from Cambridge Social Ventures and from Heidi herself has been invaluable too and Tina describes why.

What next?

• HumaniTea
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

Send us Fan Mail

We've run through the five stages of the LEAN social impact approach in earlier episodes. Three themes are common to every stage: being impact-led, communication, and embedding impact.

A social enterprise with an impact-led strategy is led by the impact it wants to create. This means being your purpose, rather than having a purpose.

Why bother? Many organisations get bogged down in a cycle of continuing to exist – which means chasing funding and contracts to continue delivering the same services and keeping their employees in jobs.  This approach doesn’t always address whether the real mission is being delivered properly, or at all.

An impact led strategy is not a short-term approach. It flips much traditional business planning on its head, and asks how you can create the most impact for the people you work with (or for the environment). Heidi explains more.

When it comes to communicating impact, there are nine essential questions to address – otherwise you risk miscommunication or excluding people. Heidi has great ideas for communication channels and outputs for different stakeholders.

When impact is truly embedded, everyone in your organisation knows what impact you’re trying to create, why you’re measuring it, and is confident about how they contribute to creating it  Heidi talks through the macro and micro elements of this, from culture to everyday actions.

The five stages of Heidi's LEAN social impact approach are Define, Plan, Measure, Analyse and Learn, and it's important to progress through each stage before moving to the next.

Heidi's new book explains everything you need to know about impact measurement and management and how to implement it in your organisation.

Get your copy first! Pre-order one of the limited number of hardback versions of
Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

Send us Fan Mail

There's a lot of anger about asking questions or fear of being 'cancelled' nowadays. Yet how are you going to educate an 11 or 15 year old about their human rights if they can't or don't ask searching questions?

Sandy AbdelRahman is the co-founder of Skaped, a platform which encourages young people to engage with their human rights through the creative arts including drama, writing and more.  An activist since the age of 19, Sandy describes why art is such an effective tool for engagement and why it's vital our young people are taught to question everything.

She also covers the pros and cons of creating its impact as a charity or social enterprise, how talking about lived and personal experiences helps young people to open up,  how Black Lives Matter impacts on Skaped's work, and addressing discrimination and expectations.

Timings:

• 1:00 What is Skaped and how does it run in practice?
• 2:31 Skaped's sessions are fun, creative and don't use impenetrable legal language
• 3:00 Sandy's background and how it gave her the idea for Skaped
• 4:35 Why art is so effective
• 5:09 Skaped is registering as a charity and Sandy describes this process
• 7:15 Its programmes include gender equality and cancelling culture, delivered online and available globally
• 10:00 Young people do care
• 12:45 Will Skaped extend the age-range of people it works with?
• 13:55 How Black Lives Matter impacts on the work Skaped does
• 15:50 Activism and campaigning: priorities and dealing with loneliness
• 18:15 What's been the hardest part of Sandy's journey?
• 20:50 Finding out more about Skaped's work

What next?

• Skaped
• Heidi's new book shares everything she knows about impact measurement and management – and how to implement it in your organisation. Order your copy of Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.

Send us Fan Mail

Stage five of the LEAN social impact approach is LEARN. Heidi explains how this is when your organisation makes improvements, based on data, to maximise your impact.

Heidi uses another real-life example, this time a community hub. Segmenting and being more specific about their "wellbeing" outcomes improved their impact and gave them more detailed evidence, more precise data and a more powerful story.

This episode also covers SROI – social return on investment. People either love or hate SROI and Heidi runs through the pros and cons of assigning financial values to your impact and  specific circumstances in which it is particularly worthwhile.

The "LEARN" stage is typically done annually or perhaps every six months. If you take an impact-led approach to running your organisation then looking at your impact is a fundamental part of your business planning approach.

The five stages of Heidi's LEAN social impact approach are Define, Plan, Measure, Analyse and Learn, and it's important to progress through each stage before moving to the next.

Heidi's new book explains everything you need to know about impact measurement and management and how to implement it in your organisation.

Get your copy first! Pre-order one of the limited number of hardback versions of
Impact First – The Social Entrepreneur's Guide to Measuring, Managing and Growing Your Impact at https://www.makeanimpactcic.co.uk/my-book-impact-first

Support the show

Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

 I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

 You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.