"“…the opposite to experience means you’re not held back by “this is the way we’ve ways done things” and what comes from that is “out-of-the-box” thinking and much more of a willingness to take a little bit of a risk. Because we all know fundraising is about a little bit of risk…” – Lauren Kemp
In this episode we talk to Emma Carter, Head of Fundraising and Sustainability at Air Ambulances UK and Lauren Kemp, Senior Sustainability Manager at the Lindengate Mental Health Charity about what it means to be a young leader in the charity sector with a key focus of fundraising leadership. Emma and Lauren talk openly and candidly about their experiences of being young leaders and give practical tips to both future young leaders and organisations who want to welcome more young leaders.
1. Diversity of thought
Age shouldn’t be forgotten when creating and implementing your EDI strategies for leadership recruitment and progression. Whilst the conversation about young trustees has been ongoing in the sector, the same conversations aren’t as prevalent when it comes to considering young leaders. Having representatives from younger generations on your senior leadership team at SMT and ELT meetings can help bring new perspectives on company-wide issues to get a broader range of views on the wider workforce.
2. Discrimination during the interview process
Both Lauren and Emma raised interviews as a place where they have felt the most discriminated against as young leaders. Questions around having the right amount of “gravitas” and what they would do to gain the respect of “more experienced” team members are common place. In some conversations, they have also both faced questions around their personal lives and starting families suggesting that being female and a young leader comes with extra levels of discrimination
3. Time is such a valuable commodity
The best things a charity for their young leaders is to be understanding, patient and to give them time to enable any new young leaders to continue their learning and development. A great use of this additional time could be for young leaders to engage with a mentor outside of their organisation to guide them through their experiences in leadership.
This episode of Charity Chat has been brought to you by our platinum sponsor Work for Good. Work for Good believes everyone should be able to turn the work they do into good. Through their fundraising platform, they offer charities a way to engage and work with small businesses, including founders, owners and sole traders who want to make an impact for charities through their sales. To find out more, please visit workforgood.co.uk.
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
Related episodes that you may be interested in:
E203 - The Need For Trustee Diversity With Alison Taylor And Kristina Kopic - https://www.charitychat.org.uk/post/e203-the-need-for-trustee-diversity-with-alison-taylor-and-kristina-kopic
E190 - De-biased hiring with Khyati Sundaram -
E96 - Leadership with Carla Miller -