Maria Morgan is the founder and CEO of Kineara, a social enterprise that supports people facing some of life's toughest challenges across housing, employment, and education, and the author of Embrace Your Why & the Value of It.

Having spent much of her career working alongside individuals and families experiencing hardship, Maria saw first-hand where traditional support systems were falling short. In 2012, she founded Kineara with a simple belief, lasting change starts by understanding people's circumstances, strengths, and needs as a whole.

In this episode, Maria reflects on the experiences that shaped her journey into social entrepreneurship and the lessons she has learned from years supporting communities through housing insecurity and crisis. We explore how to design services around real human needs, what founders often get wrong about value and impact, and why staying connected to your own purpose can help guide some of the toughest decisions you'll face as a leader.

Thank you Maria for such an honest and inspiring conversation.

To learn more about Kineara - https://kineara.co.uk/

Audio production by Flora Warshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vitalii Diakov co-founded Bring Together, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting mediation and supporting communities affected by displacement and conflict, after being forced to leave Ukraine and rebuild his life in the UK.

What started as a deeply personal response to conflict has grown into a mission to help others navigate division, trauma, and rebuilding through dialogue.

In this episode, Vitalii explains what mediation really is and why it’s becoming essential in today’s world, especially for displaced communities. He shares the story of building Bring Together alongside his wife while starting over in Dundee, and the realities of launching a social enterprise under such circumstances.

Thank you Vitalii for such an honest and thought-provoking conversation.

To learn more about Bring Together - https://bringtogether.uk/

Audio production by Flora Warshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Felicity Halsted set out to tackle one of the UK’s most persistent challenges: youth unemployment. As the founder and CEO of GoodWork, she has built a charity dedicated to helping young people access meaningful employment, while navigating the complex realities of funding, leadership, and impact in the social sector.

In this episode, Felicity shares her journey of building GoodWork from the ground up and what it means to work in service of young people during turbulent economic times. She reflects on the early days of the organisation, the importance of focusing on real job outcomes, and the systemic barriers that continue to limit social mobility. Felicity also opens up about the role of neurodivergence in shaping her leadership style, the pressure of personal branding as a founder, and why maintaining an abundance mindset is essential for anyone working to create change in the impact sector.

Thank you Felicity for the thoughtful and personal insights.

GoodWork - https://www.goodwork.org.uk/

Audio production by Flora Warshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Camilla Marcus-Dew left behind a corporate management career to pursue a bold idea, that the hygiene and beauty industry could be completely reimagined through circular design and social impact. That conviction became Amplify Goods, a social enterprise supplying some of the most circular hygiene products in the world while creating employment for people facing barriers to work, including those experiencing homelessness, disabilities, and life after prison.

In this episode, Camilla traces her journey from corporate leadership to social entrepreneurship, sharing the early challenges of building an organisation that puts both planet and people first. She opens up about the daily tension between environmental and social goals, and how the Business 2.0 framework guides her through those trade-offs. Along the way, she offers thoughtful examples of circularity in action and stories of how apparently small operational choices can accumulate into meaningful, system-level change.

Thank you Camilla for your candidness and this insightful conversation.

Amplify Goods - https://www.amplifygoods.org/

Audio production by Flora Warshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Rippin left a successful consulting career to bet everything on a radical idea, that the economy could be transformed if we developed the right leaders. That bet became On-Purpose, a one-year leadership programme where associates complete two six-month placements across social impact organisations, receiving mentorship and leadership training along the way. Over 1000 graduates later, including myself, it's become one of the most respected pathways into purposeful careers.

In this episode, Tom traces his journey from academia and consulting to founding a social enterprise, reflects on the challenges of those early years, and shares how the programme has evolved in response to a rapidly changing world. He also offers some hard-won advice for anyone building or thinking about building a social impact venture.

Thank you Tom for this enlightening and enjoyable conversation.

To learn more about On-Purpose - https://onpurpose.org/en/

Audio production by Flora Warshaw.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.