Ep 3. Sarah Mitchell, CEO Heart of the City: Corporate Social Responsibility and the future of charity partnerships
September 7, 2020
“There is a move away from the more traditional charity partnerships... (towards) a kind of main-streaming of responsible business.”
In this episode I speak with Sarah Mitchell, CEO of Heart of the City, a charity working with small to medium sized companies to help them to develop a purpose beyond profit. We discuss the changing face of corporate partnerships; Scenario Planning amidst uncertainty; and reflect on the positive aspects of working through the pandemic. Sarah also highlights some key leadership learnings and the importance of taking time for reflection and self-care as a Chief Executive.
“There is a move away from the more traditional charity partnerships... (towards) a kind of main-streaming of responsible business.”
In this episode I speak with Sarah Mitchell, CEO of Heart of the City, a charity working with small to medium sized companies to help them to develop a purpose beyond profit. We discuss the changing face of corporate partnerships; Scenario Planning amidst uncertainty; and reflect on the positive aspects of working through the pandemic. Sarah also highlights some key leadership learnings and the importance of taking time for reflection and self-care as a Chief Executive.
This episode was recorded in August 2020 via Skype, before Sarah’s new appointment as CEO of Cycling UK was announced.
Guest Biography
Sarah Mitchell has been CEO of Heart of the City since May 2017. She is due to take up the position of CEO at Cycling UK in October 2020.
Sarah has spoken and written about entrepreneurship in charities and is currently working on a book to be published by Routledge on the future of the charity sector. Previously Sarah was CEO at Carers Network and Head of Housing at Crisis and Senior Policy Advisor at Shelter. She has also worked as an Assistant Director in the UK Civil Service (Department for Business), at the European Parliament and in the Commission. Sarah is the Vice-Chair of the grant making charity the Nationwide Foundation.
Links
‘Picture This’ - Guide to Scenario Planning for Voluntary Organisations: https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/37297/picture_this.pdf
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