Annual conference 2022

She highlighted that: “It feels like now is a pivotal moment for foundations – where over the next 10 years we can build on this courage and leadership with hope or we can fall back to our comfort zone in the onslaught of crisis after crisis and fail to seize the potential of this moment. My hope and ambition for us as a sector is that we can build on the good work we have begun and be ever more courageous and brave as we do so. To use our independence, money, power with a strong values driven approach. To be courageous with our ideas and thinking; courageous about how we fund, what we fund, and courageous how we lead and work with others.”

Read Carol's speech in full here.

Watch the video of the speech here.

• The courage to be the dissenting voice in the room, the ‘wildcard’
• The need to question the kind of help you are offering, is it really what people need, or is someone else already providing that
• The foresight to prepare in advance, encourage good decision-making and check in with national and local community risk registers regularly to see what could be on the horizon.

Read Professor Easthope's guest blog

Watch the speech here.

David Knott said that a courageous leader sees the system they are operating in and is part of and understands how to drive change in that system.

Junior Smart wished for more to be done to support those from within marginalised communities to step into leadership and decision-making positions, so that they no longer “co-produce but produce the services” and for power to be meaningfully shifted.

Danny Sriskandarajah talked about the challenge to foundations in the room was to back ideas, people and institutions that have a chance to deliver a radically better world given what we face.  

Róisín Wood spoke about the importance of humility and empathy within courage and the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. 

Throughout the day, delegates shared their thoughts and ideas on what skills future foundation leaders would need. 

Closing remarks from the Minister

Conversations continued as people gathered for closing remarks from ACF’s interim chair Jessica Brown at a drinks reception, hosted by Mercer.

This ACF reception was also Stuart Andrew MP's first public engagement as minister for civil society.

Mr Andrew said: "Trusts and foundations are lifelines to so many civil society organisations - providing crucial independent funding to enable them to carry out their work and support communities across the country. I’d like to extend my thanks and appreciation to you, the leaders of trusts and foundations, for the resilience you’ve shown over the past few challenging years. And the determination you’ve displayed in tackling our current economic challenges."

Read his full speech.

Professor Lucy Easthope LLB MSc PhD FHEA FRAI FEPS

Lucy is a leading authority on recovering from disaster. For over two decades she has challenged others to think differently about what comes next, after tragic events. She is a passionate and thought-provoking voice in an area that few know about: emergency planning. However in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, her work has become decidedly more mainstream.

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Joanna Elson

Joanna is Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, whose vision is to help people across the UK to tackle their debts and manage their money with confidence.
Previously, she was Executive Director at the British Bankers’ Association running their policy department for personal and small business customers. Before that she was a House of Commons researcher and prior to that a primary school teacher.

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