Wellbeing & Care
Because our wellbeing and need to care for ourselves is marginalised in our daily lives I offer away days, talks, coaching and consultancy that help people and organisations work to acknowledge and met their need to pay due care and attention to themselves and those around them as part of their work for change.
This work is designed to help your organisation prevent burnout, eradicate chronic exhaustion, and cultivate and practice the skills of humane and just leadership. Ultimately this work is designed to make sure that your organisational culture fully reflects and embodies your values for change in the world.
The things I can offer include:
- Keynote Speech: Beating Burnout and Building Internal Resilience (more about the topics I am available to speak about can be found by following this link)
- A tailored intervention designed to take your Teams on a journey towards a more resilient and humane way of working
- Additional Coaching & Action Learning Packages to support the process
- Away Days & Staff Conferences focused on wellbeing.
Humane and Just Leadership cultures are especially important in non-profit organisations, because part of what motivates your employees is a passion for your mission and your values, the change you want to create in the world.
If your people are attracted to creating a humane and just world. But your workplace culture and processes are chronically exhausting or dehumanising, then you’re going to see profound burnout and disillusionment -- and that leads to disengagement and low productivity. You’re likely to see exceptional interpersonal conflict and politicking, and you’re going to see people leaving or being less effective as a result.
That’s why it’s essential to create a culture around Humane and Just Leadership and teach your people to practice self-care and pay attention to their own wellbeing.
Otherwise you’re going to have a productivity and retainment problem. And you are also likely to find that you staff find it hard to embody your organsiational values.
Research has shown that the solution to engagement productivity and retention isn’t higher pay. It’s purpose.
And the workplace experience needs to be aligned with that shared purpose for it to really work for your organisation.
With NGOs, that’s even more pronounced. If your workplace culture is more humane and just, your teams will be working in alignment with their own values and those of the organisation, rather than feeling conflicted about them on a day-to-day basis.
I can support you to create a humane and just work environment that aligns with your mission by resourcing your people with the skills of radical self-care, resiliency, and humane and just leadership.
To talk to us about the challenges in your org and how we can best work with you book a call with me
More about me and why I do this work
I am a a Feminist Writer, Facilitator, Activist & Coach as well as a former CEO, Chair and Grant Maker. I help organisations build resilient cultures in which people value and care for themselves and each other. Here are my skills and qualifications:
- A degree in Swahili and Social Anthropology and a Masters in Anthropological Research.
- I was CEO of the charity AbleChildAfrica between 2004 and 2011; I have two decades of years experience as a leader and practitioner in international development; I also developed programmes in three countries for the mental health and wellbeing charity BasicNeeds.
- I have worked extensively in professional fundraising and grant-making and have raised millions of pounds for the organisations I’ve worked with to fund social justice projects. I have Chaired a Domestic Violence Refuge and led the organisation through a merger and have consulted with many other organisations in their change-management processes.
- I am also a Shadow Work Coach, Action Learning Facilitator, TedX Speaker & Nia Movement Practitioner; Founder of the Red Tent Directory and The Story Party; and a podcaster and public speaker.
Working with Mary Ann allowed me to consider my own need for self-care and my desire for social justice and to see how they could compliment each other, instead of feeling as though one needed to detract from the other. I was able to start to tease apart the strands which were unique to my own context and personality, and those which were part of the wider culture. Since undertaking this work I have made clearer and more confident decisions about my boundaries and my needs than ever before. I know what I am here to do and I am excited to explore it in a way which also nourishes and supports me. I don’t feel guilty about taking care of my own wellbeing, because I understand how it relates to the impact I can have on the world. And I know that the change I am a part of will be stronger, more sustainable and more powerful as a result.
Madeleine Forbes, The Seasoned Year