Stakeholder Impact Forum

Nikki Williams is Director of Campaigning and Communities at The Wildlife Trusts, one of the UK’s largest federated membership movements. With deep experience in community organising, campaigning and stakeholder engagement, Nikki specialises in turning participation into widespread impact for all.

A shared challenge we’re hearing as part of the Stakeholder Impact Forum is low engagement and slow scalability for member growth. The Wildlife Trusts saw this stemmed from models which prioritise predefined results leading to repetitive, top-down systems limiting relevance.

With her team, Nikki has transformed this challenge into a successful new approach. Rather than prescribing outcomes, they created a supportive framework that allows communities to define what matters locally, build confidence and agency, and shape nature-based solutions that are meaningful in their own context.

The results demonstrate how community-led impact can scale when organisations invest in process rather than fixed outcomes. Through the Next Door Nature programme, an expected reach of 200 communities grew to 1,600 in three years, increasing diversity, participation and long-term ownership. While harder to capture in spreadsheets, this approach delivers significantly greater value across their ecosystem and has made the organisation more relevant than ever.

Matt Dabrowski shares how building trust-driven communities, listening closely to members’ changing expectations, and creating new routes to opportunity have helped OutBritain grow rapidly while delivering real value to its network.

Membership organisations everywhere are facing the same challenge: members expect more than networking and information. They want belonging, opportunity and real impact. Matt explains how OutBritain has responded by creating a trust-based membership model that prioritises community first and opportunity second.

By building a space where members feel safe to connect, collaborate and grow, OutBritain has created a powerful ecosystem that spans industries, regions and stages of business growth. The organisation’s trust-based membership model is helping unlock new partnerships, strengthen member engagement and generate measurable economic and social impact.

For membership leaders navigating changing expectations in 2026, Matt’s experience offers practical lessons on how trust, community and relevance can transform the role of a member organisation.

Lesley Sillaman is a highly respected voice in PR, communications and storytelling for member-driven organisations. As Managing Director of leading global comms agency, Havas Red, Lesley brings a deep understanding of how organisations can cut through noise, build trust and communicate value in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

In this conversation, Lesley explores how the role of PR has evolved beyond traditional earned media, why credibility and third-party trust matter more than ever for member organisations, and how storytelling must adapt across generations, channels and attention spans. She shares practical insights on “one story, many shapes”, the role of video and emerging media such as podcasts and Substack, and how AI can support -but not replace – strategic communications expertise.

This video is essential viewing for leaders, communicators and strategists in member-led, professional and purpose-driven organisations looking to strengthen engagement, articulate their value proposition, and reach diverse audiences without losing clarity or authenticity.

Building a strong charity partner network is about far more than funding. It requires trust, clarity of mission and a commitment to strengthening the entire ecosystem. Josephine explains how The Childhood Trust moves beyond transactional relationships to create genuine partnerships across London’s grassroots sector.

This interview focuses on how staying focused on a shared purpose and resisting “mission creep,” can pave the way for engaged partnerships for the trust’s members, funders, partners and, crucially, for the children they are working to protect.

Through research, advocacy and the launch of a new digital hub, Thrive Together, the organisation is enabling charities to share resources, collaborate more effectively and amplify their collective voice. Whilst Josephine doesn’t view her network as a traditional member organisation, her interview highlights some powerful learnings from their powerful charity ecosystem of stakeholders around value proposition, relevance and much more.

Dr I.Stephanie Boyce CBE FKC is a renowned authority on ethical leadership in member organisations, governance and inclusion, and the former President of the Law Society of England and Wales. In 2021, she made history as the first person of colour to lead the organisation, representing over 200,000 legal professionals.

Member organisations are operating in an increasingly fragmented and polarised environment. Trust is eroding, debate has become reactive rather than constructive, and many organisations struggle to remain relevant and inspire their diverse stakeholder voices to be part of their vision.

Focusing on this shared challenge, Dr. Boyce looks to leaders to head up the solution. Her ideas and lived-experience highlight how organisations can navigate complexity with integrity, inclusion, and impact.

Chris Mason is CEO of FISITA, the global federation for mobility systems engineering. With experience leading an international membership organisation through industry disruption and economic uncertainty, Chris brings a clear, value-led perspective on how relevance underpins long-term member commitment.

In uncertain times, members reassess where they invest their time and money. Membership relevance becomes the deciding factor, whether individuals clearly understand what they gain and why it matters to them now.

Industries evolve, roles change, and historic assumptions about member needs quickly fall out of date. Maintaining membership relevance requires organisations to regularly revisit who their members are becoming, not who they used to be.

By listening closely to members and adapting priorities accordingly, organisations can stay aligned with real-world challenges and remain essential.

Amanda Lea Kaiser is a hugely respected voice in member engagement and community strategy. Author of Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating a Thriving Member Community, Amanda brings over a decade of qualitative research with hundreds of in-depth member interviews to help organisations elevate their community.

In our conversation, Amanda explores the shift from transactional engagement to emotional engagement, why onboarding and first impressions matter more than ever, and how member organisations can design experiences that move people from passive observers to active collaborators and leaders. She shares practical frameworks, real-world examples, and actionable insights drawn from her six stages of member engagement, alongside reflections on segmentation, digital community, collaboration and the future of membership.

This podcast is essential listening for leaders and strategists in member-driven, professional and purpose-led organisations who are navigating declining participation, rising expectations and increased competition for attention.