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Meet Andrea Gamson... social impact supporter and change-leader behind Social Impact.Support.
Hello. I envision a world that is inclusive by design, where our economy, infrastructure, businesses, and communities are regenerative - and do more good than they do harm. I am a stubborn optimist!
My mission is to align our leadership, culture and organisations with the living systems that have survived billions of years. Study a forest and it will teach you everything you need to know about resilience and collaboration.
Organisations are living systems too. Do you seek a new operating system? One that improves authenticity and wellbeing, and is more inclusive - without jeopardising a healthy productivity? Would you like to explore what this means for your team? How about collaborating to solve a leadership challenge, and engaging with (and learning from) community leaders? Regenerous and Netshift CIC work with partners that align with - or aspire to - these values. To work with me and my associates, you value fresh thinking, inclusive facilitation and whole systems design.
Andrea's Background & Story
I started out in magazines & newspapers in the 2000s, passionate about the media as a tool for change, and shaping public opinion; but I learned fairly quickly it's a complicated beast, responsible for many abuses of power. I became interested in the very people it let down - young & marginalised people, those with daily struggles, the hard working classes, people living close to or at the base of the pyramid. I journeyed through Kenya, India, Sri Lanka & Brazil to meet, work with and learn from those at the grassroots creating change in their communities through entrepreneurship.
I landed firmly in social enterprise, creating both international and UK-based projects that support grassroots social entrepreneurs who, despite the odds and various adversities, created their own jobs to build communities that thrive not just survive. I co-founded award winning _SocialStarters in 2014, which saw hundreds of underserved social entrepreneurs supported to build longer term sustainability through private sector mentorship partnerships. Then later set up female-led NetShift CIC (2023), a sustainability consultancy for SMEs that aims to train the next generation of climate positive business leaders. Plus I transitioned my consulting work into Social Impact.Support Ltd and, more recently, launched talent development programme that values skill-sharing and peer support: Regenerous.
Drawing on a fairly rich field of experience, I have a Masters degree in Regenerative Economics (Schumacher College 2022), am a fellow of the RSA (Royal Society of Arts), and am currently transitioning toward a deeper embodying of Regenerative Leadership with Laura Storm.
Awards: Natwest's Women's Champion (2019), The Escape 100 (2019) WISE100 (2019), WISE 100 (2020), EUCLID Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise (2021).
The call for 'future fit' business
Businesses and organisations the world over are getting ready for the complex challenges that lie ahead - be it supply chain disruption, increasing staff burn out, or the struggle to recruit and retain values-driven talent. Being 'future fit' requires an openness to set the right ambitions and make better decisions, for the benefit of people, planet and place.
As we move into an ever-more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, the companies that adapt and respect the need for a more equitable and 'just', low carbon, high well being planet; are paving the way for resilience in unprecedented times. This calls for a new kind of leadership, one that has a deep and profound respect for all parts of its ecosystem.
And through NetShift CIC we are looking to transform small businesses toward net zero and beyond, recognising that sustainability management is going to become one of the most in demand jobs we're also on a mission to train the next generation of sustainability leaders, placing them in future fit companies.
Why do we need a regenerative economy?
Protection of species and natural habitat is our duty, let alone a moral obligation. It's no longer acceptable to think about the world's problems as charitable objects. To transform the system we inherited, protect future generations and all living systems on the planet (so they still have a future in which to operate in), we need to rethink the operating model. Nobody wants to be the generation who triggered extinction. There is another way of doing business, and I believe we can move more towards something fairer and greener. A just transition. Activism comes in all shapes and sizes. Shifting our combined consciousness toward an economy of regeneration, rather than extraction, is essential. Collaboration is key.