Never Too Far Gone

Patience in the Startup Phase

This is the second of a six-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode shares three types of patience involved in the startup phase of building new ideas, initiatives or organisations, which are:
 
Patience with the 'yes' people;
Patience with the 'no' people; and
Patience with the 'yes but not yet' people.
 

Three Eyes of Three Storms

This is the first of a six-part series called Stillness, a practical guide to creating pause in the midst of conflict. 'Stillness' is not a meditation or spiritual practice, but the art of suspending judgement to observe what is happening in a conflict, be it an inner-conflict, intergroup or intragroup storming. This series draws from John Paul Lederach's book, The Moral Imagination (2005) in which he describes the place of patience, place, time and serendipity in the practice of peacebuilding. This episode introduces the concept of Stillness with three stories from Heather's recent experience of lobbying in Parliament. 

Discerning Your Career Path, with Carl Stauffer

This is the final episode of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, journeying into how to be a successful policy entrepreneur, based on Michael Sheldrick's From Ideas to Impact. This episode explores how to discern your career journey, featuring Carl Stauffer, Senior Expert in Reconciliation at the United States Institute for Peace. Carl looks back over his 30 years of experience as a strategic leader in peace, justice and reconciliation initiatives and reflects on how he came to understand his vocation and discern his 'next steps' at each juncture. This episode frames our career journey in three areas:-
'The Stirring' or times when we feel restless in our current role; 
'The Closed Door' which is about how to manage when opportunities we thought would open up to us suddenly do not; and
'The Title' which is about the various ways that people and life experiences communicate to us who we are and what unique gift we bring to the world.

When the War is Over (and When It's Not), with Carl Stauffer

This is the seventh of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, journeying into how to be a successful policy entrepreneur, based on Michael Sheldrick's From Ideas to Impact. The final two episodes of this series take a slightly different turn, as we meet with Carl Stauffer, Senior Expert in Reconciliation at the United States Institute for Peace. Carl is a strategic leader with over 30 years experience in peace, justice and reconciliation initiatives, including 16 years on the ground in South Africa. He has conducted training and consultation in 37 countries and 6 continents and comes with 11 years experience as Associate Professor of Justice and Peacebuilding at the Eastern Mennonite University. In this episode, Carl shares how he has witnessed radical attempts to cross dividing lines in our world today, referencing:
The building of a parallel democratic process in Myanmar;
The Comprehensive Agreement signed between the United States and Vietnam in 2023; and 
A legislated framework for transitional justice in Colombia.

Keeping the Agenda on the Table

This is the sixth of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion worldwide in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather explores the third of three phases of policy entrepreneurship, which is what Michael calls 'Implementation.' Once you have a policy change on the table and you've managed to get the right people to that table, how do you make sure it doesn't fall off the agenda?

Turn Up With Solutions, with Michael Sheldrick

This is the fifth of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion around the world in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather interviews Michael as he shares three tips for how to make the most out of a ten-minute pitch to a busy person. 

Focus on the Ten That Say Yes Not the Ninety That Say No, with Michael Sheldrick

This is the fourth of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion around the world in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather interviews Michael, as he shares about the people in his life who influenced him to try against the odds, to not run away from hard things, and the big "yes" from a high school teacher that changed the direction of his life. 

Working with Corrupt Systems and Corrupt People

This is the third of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion around the world in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather sets out two safeguards when partnering with imperfect institutions and people: 
 
1. Never assume you know everything;
2. Commit but don't get married. 
 
This episode includes a practical exercise for discerning strategic partnerships for policy entrepreneurship. 

Six Enemies to Vision and How to Smash Them

This is the second of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion around the world in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather exposes six enemies to vision: overwhelm, playing shy, polarisation, short-termism, judgement and depersonalisation. She reveals the weapons she has used to overcome these 'enemies' and why love wins every time. 

Is Policy the Best Lever for Change?

This is the first of an eight-part series called Policy Matters, based on Michael Sheldrick's newly released book From Ideas to Impact: A Playbook for Influencing and Implementing Change in a Divided World. Michael Sheldrick is the Co-Founder of Global Citizen and has worked with a range of stakeholders to distribute over $40 billion around the world in the past decade to end extreme poverty. In this episode, Heather shares her own mindset shift towards elevating the importance of policy in effecting social change, away from preferencing grassroots activities. Whilst she argues that "policy entrepreneurship" has an indispensable place in effecting tangible change, she queries, is it the MOST important lever?