Breakfast Club featuring iCommunity

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” ~ Desmond Tutu 

It can be very easy to keep doing what we have always done, especially in times of great need when the work we do can provide immediate relief to those we help. But what happens when we take a step back and look at the wider picture? Is the work we are doing really having a long term impact? And if it isn’t, who are the leaders brave enough to make the difficult decision to change? And how do you even start! 

The Breakfast Clubs are a series of Leadership Events run by The Wheels Leadership Academy. The events are designed as a space to hear from leaders in the sector, connect with other people in the sector, and to give you some space, time and hopefully inspiration to consider what’s next for you on your leadership journey.

Our November event explores just this issue. We are delighted to be speaking with two leaders in their field who are re-designing how they serve the people they work with. 

We also have an added bonus for this event. The Leadership Academy are delighted to be hosting our first collab with our sister project iCommunity.  

iCommunity is a collaborative all-island project and a joint initiative of NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) and The Wheel.  It is where nonprofits and social enterprises in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland come together to collaborate, share practice and experience, and learn from each other to address shared challenges. 

We will have two speakers on the day, one from the Republic of Ireland and one from Northern Ireland. We are inviting attendees from both jurisdictions to join us for the event and to take part in the facilitated networking. 

Extra opportunities to network! 

What’s really interesting is that both of our speakers are, independently, aiming for the same goal, they envisage a society without foodbanks. They are both on a massive journey of change and they have huge learning to share. 

For example: 

• At what point do we need to step back and examine what we are doing and the wider impact of our work? 
• How do we secure buy-in from the people involved, the decision makers and stakeholders? 

• How do we communicate the changes we are making to our service users and the general public? 
• How do we manage any sensitivities in moves from charity to justice? 

We have two great speakers. Both of whom work for organisations that run dedicated food banks, and both of whom are on a journey to end the need for food banks, one in the Republic and one in the North  

Our Speakers 

Yvonne Fleming is a senior manager in Crosscare , the social support agency of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. With over 30 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector, of which 20 years was in management roles, Yvonne has worked in the areas of homelessness, migrant issues, youth/community work, among other areas. Yvonne has a strong commitment to both excellent direct service and campaigning for societal change. Yvonne has worked mostly in urban and rural settings in Ireland but also with Concern in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Yvonne has qualifications in ccommunication’s, community and youth work and non-profit management. 

Jonny Currie is Northern Ireland Lead for The Trussell Trust, an anti-poverty charity that supports a nationwide network of food banks to provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.  

He has worked in the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland for over twenty years. Previously he was Community Development Director at East Belfast Community Development Agency.

Jonny is also Joint-chair of YMCA Ireland and an independent member of Ards and North Down Policing and Community Safety Partnership. 

  Our Breakfast Club Events are facilitated by The Leadership Academy Manager Sharon.

As this is our first collaborative event across the border, we would love to hear from you about how we could make the networking part of the event useful for you? Would you like to meet people from similar orgs? Or prefer a pot-luck approach? Can we help you connect directly with someone? Let us know what would work for you and we will do our best to help you connect

We hope you join us for this exciting morning, share your own perspective on doing the right thing and making long term decisions and hopefully leave feeling energized and inspired! We also hope you take this opportunity to connect with colleagues you might not otherwise meet. 

Le gach dea ghuí | With every best wish 

Sharon 

Sharon Hughes, Leadership Academy Manager 

Please visit our LinkedIn Leadership Academy page where we hope to connect as many leaders as possible!