The Challenges Group

Management training improves the performance of people and organisations. We have designed our Managing with Purpose training specifically for third sector organisations. Our next cohort starts on Wednesday 23 Oct. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eJtwW-Y9 Chartered Management Institute

Last week we were delighted to be involved in this year’s #ConvergeAwards, providing the first ‘The Ventures Lab’ award for socially or environmentally impactful business ideas. We chose the Innovative, game-changing, and globally ambitious MosaIQ as the winners. Welcome to The Ventures Lab MosaIQ! (Quentin Loisel, Sebastien chastin, and Danielle M. Agnello) We’d like to thank the Converge team for their close collaboration over the last few years as we have been exploring a strategy to align more around the creation of a clear development pathway for impact focused enterprises. The Converge Awards brilliantly showcases the work Converge do. Shining a light on the excellent work our universities are doing to identify challenges and design, test and deliver important solutions to some of the worlds more difficult challenges. Find out about all this year's winners here: https://lnkd.in/eGvAfqdq Glasgow Caledonian University

This week, a few of the international team are at the Youth Business International (YBI) Youth Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi catching up with old and new partners. Pearl Emefa Siale, PHRi. and Shaun McLaughlin are looking forward to delivering their workshop tomorrow, at 4pm, on " What Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Need vs. What They Actually Get" This interactive workshop will explore the common mismatches between the needs of entrepreneurs and the reality they encounter. The aim is to identify the most significant needs of early-stage entrepreneurs and brainstorm ways to close any gaps in the support they receive. The workshop will provide valuable insight to both entrepreneurs and the stakeholders who support them. If you are at the event and are planning to come along to workshop, we will see you tomorrow. #GYES2024 #Youthentrepreneurship

CMi research shows that organisations who invest in management and leadership development programmes see, on average, a 23% increase in organisational performance and a 32% increase in people performance. This is one of the reasons we have developed our Management with Purpose training, a CMi-certified course for managers and leaders in purpose-led enterprises and charities. We want to continue to support and grow effective leadership in the third sector. Our next course starts on Wednesday 23 Oct. Click here for more information: https://lnkd.in/eJtwW-Y9

The Ventures Lab (our early-stage purpose-led Venture support programme) was delighted to host an event last week, attended by key stakeholders from across the social venture ecosystem: Converge , Scottish EDGE, Firstport, CodeBase, Social Investment Scotland, The Scottish National Investment Bank, University of Strathclyde, and The Scottish Government. In the session, we discussed how Scotland’s social ventures and its wider ecosystem can continue to drive growth, innovation, and sustainable impact in Scotland’s economy. In particular, how we can measure, frame and amplify the impact delivered by Scotland’s social ventures to ensure the value they add is clear. To those who attended, thank you for the insightful contributions. Exciting things lie ahead!! Find out more about The Ventures Lab here: www.theventureslab.com

As we continue counting down to the launch of the #1MBW Movement on #WBWDay, we’re sharing another powerful response to the question: "If you had an extra $1 million, what would you do for women in business?" Today, we’re featuring Caroline Wylie, COO of The Challenges Group: “I would invest in a fund supporting women-led businesses, providing capital, mentoring, and resources to help them scale and thrive.” Caroline’s vision of providing the essential resources and guidance to help women-led businesses succeed is inspiring. Capital combined with mentorship can unlock endless possibilities for women entrepreneurs. What would you do with an extra $1M to support women in business? #1MBW #WomenInBusiness #Support #Entrepreneurship

Since the start of April 2023 we have supported 78 women through Making Work Work – for Edinburgh Women. We know that our programme is making a real difference, helping people get closer to their goals, but don’t take our word for it – look at what the statistics tell us:   ·      After training, 46% (so far) are employed with a further 9% achieving in-work progression; ·      13% have become self-employed or are in the process of starting a business or social enterprise; ·      11% are studying, volunteering or working towards a professional qualification to move them forward, now that they are clearer on their goals, and ·      14% are actively applying for jobs and attending interviews, often for the first time in many years.   These numbers are encouraging because they tell us that the peer-led training and wraparound support we provide are helping our participants rediscover their skills, get clear on their goals and are building the confidence they need to go after the roles they want.   If this sounds like the fresh start you need, you are not alone! Head over to https://lnkd.in/eUaR2sKr to find out more and apply.

For our 25th birthday celebration, we aimed to bring people together from our various networks, creating opportunities for those who don’t normally work together to connect, collaborate, and collectively find ways to overcome some of the hurdles we face as a sector. Based on the conversations we had via the workshops we ran throughout the day, the following pledges were created: Productivity, People, and Impact in the Social Economy: -         We will be part of a consortium addressing skills gaps and career development to ensure better-led enterprises delivering greater impact for Scotland. -         We will continue to address the challenges of getting women returners back to work, benefiting society, businesses, women and their families. What can Scotland Contribute to Global Sustainable Economic Development?: -          We agreed to collaborate and support African and Asian Scottish University alumni in unlocking their full potential. -          We want to enter into partnerships and collaborations to improve our collective impact. What can we use impact venture building for?: -         We will create new collaborations to increase the number of game-changing social ventures coming from Scotland. -         We will encourage social ventures to spend more time understanding the problem and its wider context before jumping into solutions. -         We will further explore how non-traditional social ventures can create impact. If you’d like to get involved in any of these pledges, please get in touch.

In order to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of today and tomorrow, the management and leadership of our sector needs to be well-skilled to reflect our society. Read our article in Third Force News on Managing with purpose: addressing the challenges of today and tomorrow. Find the link in the comments.

What a day! A big thank you to everyone who came to our 25th birthday forum, Collaborate: innovate: Change, today. Special thanks to Gael Drummond, CEO of Firstport for interviewing Eoghan Mackie on all things Challenges Group, and to our panellists. So many great conversations around international development, social-venture building, and developing people within third-sector organisations. We also have a number of pledges from today which we’ll be sharing soon.