People Inspired By Purpose - Purposely Podcast

Rosie Mead joined Purposely Podcast to share her founder story Rosie combined her interest in music and dementia to start a successful social enterprise focused on improving the lives of vulnerable people. She shares her founder story launching UK social enterprise Musica in 2010 and outlines the benefits of listening to and interacting with live music for people with dementia, their carers and their families. She also shares details on her passion for music through her clarinet play and performances as well as her recent discovery of vinyl records at the same time some of the worlds leading artists like Bowie, Coldplay, The Cure and the Eeels. We talk the wonder of playlists also, both for their dementia work and her own personal love for playlists. Rosie talks about the challenge of the pandemic and how that negatively effected both their finances as well as their mission to help people in care homes (the worst hit by the early outbreak of the corona virus). However, she also talks about pivoting their programmes online to help reach people and take their brilliance to an international audience. Rosie is also engaging people online sharing favourite music. Musica’s work is underpinned by extensive research and Rosie describes how she believes more and more care homes will embed music into care plans Rosie is an award winner and has been named a Woman of Inspiration in this year’s top 100 WISE (Women in Social Enterprise) list. WISE 2020, in partnership with NatWest, focussed this year on how these stars of the social enterprise world had adapted to COVID-19 and showed it “who’s boss”. https://musica-music.co.uk

Today we have a role reversal with Mark Longbottom being interviewed about his dual roles as CEO of Heart Kids New Zealand as well as founder and host of Purposely Podcast. The interviewer is the impressive Dhivya O'Connor (charity leader and podcaster) who is based in the UK. Show notes “Less about egos and logos and let’s think more about mission and (those) whose lives we are trying to help and change... People first, mission always.” Mark has 25 years of nonprofit experience both in the UK and New Zealand, leading fundraising, events, service delivery, community engagement, and commercial functions in well known charities such as The Prince's Trust, MS Society, Terrence Higgins Trust, Auckland City Mission, New Zealand Aids Foundation and the Auckland Foundation. Mark is currently Chief Executive of Heart Kids New Zealand, a charity providing lifelong care and support to children, young people and families impacted by childhood heart defects or CHDs. Previous to that, he was Head of the St. James's Place Charitable Foundation for over a decade. The Foundation is the seventh largest corporate foundation in the UK and is the charitable arm of St. James’s Place Wealth Management. Mark is also the Founder of the Purposely Podcast, interviewing inspirational people. Purposely was set up to amplify the stories of founders and leaders of nonprofits, charities, for-purpose businesses, as well as social entrepreneurs. Mark’s hope is that Purposely will inspire other people to make a positive and lasting difference to the lives of people living in our communities and those who need the help the most. https://heartkids.org.nz/ https://www.purposelypodcast.com/ Dhivya O’Connor is a charity leader, who has over 20 years' experience across the charity and commercial sectors. Most recently, Dhivya served as CEO of Children with Cancer UK. She is also a Trustee and Chair of the Development Board of the international development organisation, Book Aid International. Dhivya has deep knowledge of the charity sector, with expertise in fundraising and philanthropy. She has also volunteered with NGOs in India, South Africa and Cambodia. A passionate advocate for the work of charities, she launched The Charity CEO Podcast in August 2020, whilst on Maternity break with her second child. www.thecharityceo.com

Sir Graeme Dingle joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story In this enlightening episode of Purposely you will hear his theory on family violence and how this has led to poor outcomes for children and young people in New Zealand. Sir Graeme is a renowned outdoor adventurer and mountaineer, He is also known for his writing. Sir Graeme and his wife Jo-Anne Wilkinson (Lady Dingle) formed the Graeme Dingle Foundation which was set-up to improve outcomes for young people. They both pledged to positively impact on New Zealand’s negative youth statistics using the power of self efficacy to help make a positive and lasting difference. This episode explores their founder story with their foundation as well as his own evolution from an unsure and weak child to a confident and celebrated adventurer, businessman, leader, part-time builder and life time teacher and mentor. Sir Graeme also shares a wonderful story about getting things wrong with the late David Lange and his dear friend Sir Edmund Hilary. He also provides insights into Sir Ed’s personality.

Sonia Thursby ONZM joins Purposely Podcast to share her story and why she is motivated to support people with disabilities. "at a very early age, I saw the prejudice, the bullying, and the meanness against someone who was different where she was just my friend Cat. We would hang out, swap beads, play with dolls, but to others she was something to be stared at… I didn't think that was okay.. and that was all the motivation I needed to get into PHAB which in those days was physically handicapped, able bodied. she was the physically disabled one and I was the able bodied one. So yeah, for me, it's about justice." Sonia Thursby has worked in the Youth and Disability sector in New Zealand for over 25 years, with extensive prior experience in the UK. As a trusted ally to the sector, she has been able to put the voice of youth with disabilities at the forefront of every board she has been a part of, including PHO, Health Boards and Council Advisory Groups. Thanks to these vast connections within the sector, and across the public and government sectors, she has been able to provide a safe space for youth with disabilities to come together and co-create opportunities for themselves and their peers. You will hear how she identifies as both a kiwi and a Brit and how she wishes she could pick up all her family in the UK and transport them back to her home in Auckland. You will also hear about the innovation she is leading in the disability sector and how service solutions are being co designed between the agency she runs, Government and those who need the help and support.

‘my brother and his friends' battle with HIV motivated me to want to help’ – Anne Aslett joins Purposely Podcast to share her story Anne Aslett is the Chief Executive Officer of the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF). She has been with the Foundation for almost 20 years having joined from the commercial sector. Initially Anne joined as a volunteer and she is now their Global CEO and responsible for disbursing over $60 million in grants. Anne talks about her brothers fight with HIV and misdiagnosed brain tumour that would eventually take his young life. How his experience along with that of his close friends led her to want to help others going through the same thing. She initially joined HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust (UK) as a volunteer moving on to help Elton John set up a supporter database for his own AIDS Foundation. You will hear how a bold suggestion to Elton and his manager, interrupting a conversation they were having in the office, led to a popup shop selling Elton’s used clothing and raised significant funds to help their early work. Anne shares the story of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and their mission to end discrimination, HIV infections and AIDS deaths. No matter who or where you are in the world. More specifically Anne talks about the incredible success they have had with a project in South London whereby they switched to automatic HIV testing rather than the traditional opt in test. Anne also talks about working what it is like to work Elton John as well Elton’s husband David Furnish who is the Chairman of the Foundation.  How she travelled with the charity’s celebrity Patron Victoria Beckham to a project affecting girls at risk of HIV and she was up close and personal when President Macron awarded Elton with the Legion d’Honneur and they jointly launched their most successful partnership.

Katy is the co-founder and Managing Director of Skylark Works, a purpose-led consultancy providing practical business support to organisations delivering positive social impact. Support can take many forms, including delivery of practical projects, making pan-sector connections and sharing helpful guidance. Things changed for Katy when she was made redundant from Woodford Investment Management following a turbulent 2019, which saw the company close its doors. ‘Woodford was much more than just a job for me, colleagues were close friends and I’m someone who really cares, so I gave an awful lot to my job. It was a really difficult time, mentally draining and emotionally and physically exhausting as well. As cliched as it sounds, sometimes the hardest things teach you the most and I definitely look back on that period and think about how much I learned’. Katy’s background in delivering strategic growth has enabled her to apply her commercial acumen to her new position, helping other organisations to scale, be sustainable and deliver positive social impact. Katy now places a much greater emphasis on her own wellbeing, after realising that she had been neglecting her health. She can provide great insight for Skylark’s clients, having been heavily involved in the corporate world and understands how businesses need to truly embed social purpose to remain relevant and enact real change for society. Consumers want to be involved with businesses that can really demonstrate a social and ethical compass. ‘People are no longer satisfied with just getting the best product or best financial return, it needs to have positive social impact or positive environmental impact too.' You can find out more about Skylark Works on their website - https://www.skylarkworks.com.'She also had a successful career that led her to time in America, New Zealand, London and Australia. You will hear about Katy’s early years on her family farm, her love for New Zealand and what it is like for an English woman living in Edinburgh.

Dave McKee joins Purposely Podcast to share his unique founder story It all started with a phone call from his daughter Sophie seventeen years ago when she was in Guatemala and he was in Nottingham. Sophie was teaching disadvantaged children English when she discovered the school was on the brink of collapse because they had no funding. A call to her Dad changed both their futures and set them on a new path helping to transform the lives of children living in poverty. Together they set up the UK Charity ‘Education for the Children’ which runs and funds a school in in the Jocotenango region of Guatemala. Over the last two decades they have dramatically raised local education standards and empowered thousands of children living in the region to reach their full potential through access to quality education. With one of the lowest literacy rates in the Western Hemisphere, many people in Jocotenango struggle to find jobs or put food on the table. The charity’s aim is set their students up with jobs and employment opportunities available to those with qualifications in neighbouring Antigua and Guatemala City. Dave is both the founder and Chief Executive while Sophie is an active trustee and they both live in a small town near Valencia, Spain.

Mary Storrie joins Purposely Podcast to tell her inspirational story On the 28th of December 2003 Mary’s world came crashing down. At a Christmas party, Rosie May their only daughter, aged 10 at the time, was brutally murdered by a 17 year old boy she knew. Mary talks about the devastation this caused both to herself, her husband and their two sons. How this violent and senseless act has changed them as a family for ever. In honour of her memory the family dramatically changed the direction of their lives with a focus on helping others. A year after the death of her daughter the family decided to escape the horrific recollections of the Christmas before and go on a family holiday to South East Asia. On Christmas Day, they planted a little palm tree in loving memory of Rosie May. On boxing day, as they stood on the shore of the Indian Ocean the tsunami hit. It claimed more than 230,000 lives across fourteen different countries and was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Mary talks about being lucky to survive that disaster, however, she also describes their sense of calm, as her son said succinctly,  ‘we have already faced our worst nightmare’. Mary went back to find the tiny palm tree they had planted, and incredibly it had survive. Mary saw this as a clear sigh that Rosie May was watching over them and had kept them, her brothers and the tiny palm tree safe. This was the inspiration for the Rosie May Foundation. Their personal tragedy gave them the determination to do something extraordinary. To turn tragedy into hope and create a living legacy to the daughter they loved so much. They wanted to give children in crisis the right to a future, one that Rosie May has tragically been denied. Their very first project, the Rosie May Home for girls, was opened for children who had lost parents to the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Today the charity is at the forefront of the deinstitutionalisation (children out of orphanages into smaller loving homes) agenda in Sri Lanka, conducting research driving the process forward, and working with key partners, both in the UK and on the ground. Partners like Hope and Homes for Children (see #16 HHC founder Mark Cook speaks with Purposely Podcast). They also operate in Nepal and their fundraising reach has stretched as far as Australia. Impressively Mary has also been back to University to do a bachelor of arts and a masters in human rights and global citizenship. Mary sees the importance of this later life education to her current role as CEO of an international development charity.  The time spent as an adult student proved therapeutic and she could choose if she wanted to share her story or just be ‘Mary the adult student’. She received several awards for her academic achievements while in Nottingham.

Nic Russell joined Purposely Podcast to share her founder story Nic reflects on the start of Kenzie’s Gift in 2006, founded with the intent of providing appropriate and research-based psychosocial support for children experiencing grief and loss within the family. Nic Russell’s daughter Kenzie was only two years old when she was diagnosed with a paraspinal cancerous tumour.  Although Kenzie won her battle with cancer, the prolonged and aggressive medical treatment was more than her small body could take. Kenzie died on the 29th of December 2005. Through this tragedy came the hope for families that is Kenzie’s Gift. Since the establishment of Kenzie’s Gift, the charity has helped over 200 families through more than 2000 psychotherapy sessions and distributed over a 1,000 copies of their printed resource packs, the My Journey Kit and Memories Are Forever. Nic reflects on Kenzie's life as well as her own health challenges with breast cancer, a degenerative condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy  and parkinsons disease (diagnosed at age 46). Nic also talks about her passion for sport and how she finds swimming and being by the seaside hugely therapeutic. 

‘Millennials Changing the face of Philanthropy’ Laurence Marshbaum joins Purposely Podcast to share his founder story Laurence is Founder and Chairman of 10x10 Philanthropy, a non-profit, millennial based movement that has raised and distributed over $2M to grassroots charities around the world. In 2013 Laurence and a group of close friends started the movement in Sydney, engaging over 10,000 individual donors, 900 core volunteers. Not only is he the founder of an amazing charity enterprise but he also has a top job in finance, playing a key role in Alternative Strategies for Australian based fund Sunsuper. This role has taken him to New York, London and Australasia and has given him some amazing opportunities - but also made him realise how fortunate he was. His Jewish faith grounded him and gave him an appreciation of the power and effectiveness of giving. Laurence is a driven and passionate individual who is only just getting started! He has plans to further scale and grow this innovative nonprofit to more people, cities and countries.  He lays down the challenge to others to join him on the 10x10 Philanthropy Mission. Listen to find out more about the people, podcasts and books that have inspired him throughout his journey. Episode Notes: 1. Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas https://www.amazon.com.au/Winners-Take-All-Charade-Changing/dp/0451493249 2. Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI 3. 10x10 Website – www.10x10philanthropy.com