We have reached a moment in time when changing the way we behave as employers, employees, investors, clients, suppliers, communities and governments has become critical to the future of our world as we know it.
Human capital is instrumental in behaviour change and Careers4Change feels a real responsibility to bring decision makers and other employees to the table who can drive innovation and truly make an impact.
Sheena Pentin, Founder and Director of Careers4Change, emerged from an executive career in publishing in search of a more purposeful proposition beyond the realms of commercial business. She found many of her answers in a small social enterprise, which evolved into Europe’s leading impact investment firm. It was at the grass roots of social enterprise that she discovered that purpose-driven business models could drive social change. She also discovered intrapreneurs within major firms who had innovative ideas about how their organisations could make a significant impact on the community and environment through their sustainability agendas. People and leaders were at the forefront of this potential to make change. Since then, Careers4Change has been on a mission to find a way of channeling skills and passion to empower others to drive change and make a positive impact on the world.
Delivering impact is the impetus behind Careers4Change
The 21st century has presented us with a number of acute challenges. We all recognise that the world is changing; we wake up to calls to ‘save the planet’ every day in all sorts of guises; the radical change makers and non-violent protestors are being heard with a hint of skepticism from some others. However, the desire to make change is not restricted to the extremist, anti-capitalist environmental activists. There are numerous innovators out there who are passionate about contributing to social change and are curious about how to maximise their own potential to do just that. Careers4Change has an important and immediate role to play as an agent of change.
Mahatma Gandhi said “BE the change you want to see in the world”. But the question is often how to make any significant impact in this complex ecosystem.
Having pursued her own journey from the commercial arena to the social economy, Sheena is passionate about facilitating the same transition for would-be change makers, or to provide a springboard for those working in the sector already, to realise their own ambitions of contributing to change on a more ambitious scale.
Careers4Change has worked with a variety of ‘responsible leaders’ who are already forging a new path for our future generations. But it has to be said that their successors are already asking the right questions about the future and how to do things differently. With this ambition, optimism and enthusiasm comes the opportunity to speed up the pace of change, but whether an ‘intrapreneur’ or an entrepreneur, skills have to be honed and developed and specialists need to find their way through the social impact maze, whether that means a role in the social economy or a mainstream firm. This has become clear to Sheena during seminars and workshops, which she has facilitated, where she has enjoyed passionate exchanges with MBA and Executive MBA students at the likes of Oxford Said Business School about how to grasp the opportunities. Careers4Change feels it has a real responsibility to connect these aspirational change makers with impactful roles in organisations which have innovation at their core.