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The RSA hosted an exciting programme of activities yesterday to showcase the groups of fellows that had been awarded grants under the catalyst programme. The grant is aimed at new ideas that will have a positive social impact and provides seed funding to help develop them further. Whilst attending the event, I remembered my experience co-ordinating the Bloggers Circle, which also had support from the RSA shortly before the catalst programme had been launched (I think).

Listening to some of the organisations that had been awarded catalyst funding it was clear how the RSA had helped. The programme enabled people without any organisational form or legal status the money to take the idea beyond conception. From memory, there aren’t many grants available to organisations that don’t yet exist! For Plan Zhero, for example, it provided a great deal of what they needed to get off the ground. But refreshingly its founders also told me that the process of applying for the grant was challenging yet engaging and actually helped improve the idea.

The RSA helped further by bringing together the award winners and organising a roundtable workshop style event which ensured that it was more collaborative and engaging than the typical platform-style event. In fact, by the end of the event the jaded energy of the room suggested that the fund winners would benefit from meeting more frequently – perhaps working in partnership with the social entreprenuers’ spotlight scheme. It’s when the RSA is able to effect introductions to like-minded people with a common interest that it becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Following the event, there was a lecture and the award of the Albert Medal to Alberta Ruiz, a social entreprenuer who helped organise waste pickers. What was particularly powerful about her moving story was that it combined community activity, awareness raising and policy impact. So often organisations achieve one of these three things and so rarely are all three combined. With its growing interest in social enterprise, the RSA too has the potential to do this through matching its project research, public events and fellowship networks.

One of the challenges for the RSA in this space is how it consolidates the learning from this activity. The Albert Medal lecture will doubtless be available in multiple digital formats, reaching a global audience. And that’s a massive achievement. But the lessons from an event like the catalyst worksop, or the social entreprenuers programme are currently held in the brains of each who attended. Writing these down in a report may feel very 20th century (and is also time-consuming) but each group funded by catalyst needs to be able to learn the lessons from previous startups.

When I was first labouring with setting up Newscounter, my experience would have been radically different if I’d had the RSA networks to draw on. Yesterday the RSA made a significant contribution towards its mission and it was great to witness.

I’ve been nominated by 10 of my peers – fellows of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – to be a trustee. I tried to draw my nominations from a range of different people and each were kind enough to go through the process and even write nice things about my candidacy. It’s exciting because it’s an organisation with dynamic leadership under Luke Johnson and Matthew Taylor with clear aims and values. In my experience, there are a large group of trustees who are high-flyers committed to using the fellowship as a means of achieving more for society although at the recent AGM there were clearly tensions around the organisation’s direction of travel.

I expect there will now be an election which will conclude at the end of January. Inevitably for many – if not the majority of fellows – the importance of the ballot will get lost in Christmas cards. In contrast, I will be doing everything I can to convince people that humble little me, with 30 years experience, can make a valuable contribution to an organisation that boasts Benjamin Franklin as a former fellow. I’ve written a statement in support which will be accompanied with my CV.

I’d like to use social media in three respects:

• talking about my experiences of the RSA and with its fellows – events I’ve attended, projects that I’ve been involved with and fellows who are making a difference
• making transparent the role of a trustee
• relating the role of trustees to the roles of fellows, particularly outside London

I’m assuming that in an election of this sort, there’s no need to set out a campaign approach / principles per se.

However, in each of the three areas I’m sure I’ll learn more by doing it than by thinking about it. And in each there will be tensions: how do I do the first to best complement and support the RSA’s excellent existing channels; how do I make the role of a trustee transparent without breaking confidential conversations or undermining collective decisions? To what extent do fellows want to deal with trustees and how is that bests done within the constraints and formal processes of the RSA?

I’ve written previously about why membership organisations are so compelling. I’ve given a lot of thought to how to use social media to promote campaigns and organisations. Now is the chance to do some of it myself. Hopefully, without sounding pompous.

This is a critically important moment for the RSA. The management has a clear, exciting and challenging vision. Following the recent AGM the society now has the structure it needs to deliver this. I would like your support to be a trustee for the following reasons:
1. My fellowship experience
I have been involved in the social entrepreneurs’ network and  the development of the social enterprise spotlight initiative. A small group of people developed the spotlight from concept to launch in a few short weeks. The dynamism, creativity and openness of the meetings made it the a rewarding experience. Thanks to the support of the RSA staff, the skills and expertise of the fellowship and the profile provided through the RSA’s communications channels, we were able to develop an effective programme which supported a number of enterprises through the year.

As with any new project, we learnt a considerable amount about what the RSA can do best and I’d like to make the most of this experience  in my work as a trustee.

2. My career history

I founded Trufflenet five years ago and the company now provides business insights from digital media to some of Britain’s largest and most high profile private and public sector organisations. Building the company in the current economic climate has been an extraordinary experience. It has taught me the importance of collaboration and learning from investors, colleagues and clients; the creativity and flexibility needed to fashion an attractive offer and the need for focus and energy to make the most of opportunities. I believe this experience –both the successes and failures that I’ve had along the way – will be of considerable benefit to the RSA as it seeks to become a
more entrepreneurial organisation.

I have experience of leading influential research projects, most recently devising the Media Standards Trust’s recommendations for reform of press self-regulation, many of which have won considerable support in politics and the media post phone-hacking. At IPPR I led the research on the state funding of political parties. The high profile
recommendations, which had a broad constituency of support, have been echoed in subsequent public inquiries.

3. An effective trustee

As vice chair of a primary school governing body in Southwark and a non executive director of a community development organisation in Hackney I have experience of working with a range of different organisations. Within
the necessary constraints, I will use digital media to make my experience of the RSA as a trustee visible to the fellowship, helping ensure that the regular work of the trustees is open and accountable.

Given the power of the regional networks within the RSA, I will also be available for visits around the nations and regions of the UK to attend meetings with fellows to ensure that the RSA provides a rewarding experience to its fellows.

If you’d like to talk to me further, please get in touch. Just get in touch with me.