A diverse workplace is no longer an optional extra. It’s now a recognised route to a better-performing organisation. Peter Davy makes the case.

There’s no shortage of goodwill among voluntary groups when it comes to diversity. When CIPD published its recruitment and retention survey last year it reported that just under three quarters of voluntary groups had a formal diversity policy, against 55 per cent in the private sector. Similarly, a survey in June 2008 by community foundation Olmec found that 80 per cent said equality and diversity were explicit in their organisation’s goals.

When it comes to delivering on these aspirations, though, the truth is most don’t even know how well they’re doing. According to Olmec, just one in five measured the outcomes of their work in this area, and this may overstate the case. As Tanzeem Ahmed, the foundation’s director, puts it: ‘There’s a high level of commitment among voluntary organisations, but that isn’t always embedded in their practices.’

Paul Amadi, director of fundraising at RNIB and a former chair of the Black Fundraisers Network (BfN) is one who is increasingly frustrated at what he says is a lack of progress on diversity in the sector, a failing that may be partly to blame for the Charity Commission’s finding last May, that members of black and minority ethnic groups were less likely than their white counterparts to think charities are trustworthy, and more likely to think they are unprofessional.

‘Too many charities are still not following up their rhetoric with action,’ he argues.

No simple solution

Partly to blame for this lag may be the fact that actually getting to grips with diversity is not simple. There are some easy steps charities can take (see below), but achieving a diverse workforce is not just about putting lots of adverts in the specialist press and ticking off statistical boxes. As director of people and development at RNID Vicki Hemming puts it, ‘All this ends up giving you is a massive advertising bill.’

While it encompasses the idea of equality, a truly diverse workplace goes further. It is one in which the widest spectrum of differences are recognised, considered and – crucially – actively valued. This includes those differences you can easily see, in gender and perhaps ethnicity, for example, but widens out to include ‘hidden’ factors, including, but not limited to: sexual orientation; socio-economic background; nationality; religious belief; political and regional affiliations; marital status; whether someone lives in an urban or suburban setting – even loyalty to a particular football team.

Culture of respect

A culture of true diversity means that everyone who enters the workplace feels free to express opinions, viewpoints and needs freely, and knows that these will be respected and valued. By understanding the huge degree to which every person is unique, and how many factors play a part in creating our own perspectives, the traditional stereotypes that may have defined perceptions of colleagues are discredited. So, even when it comes to recruitment, charities have to think more deeply than before. Do the job specifications actually reflect the requirements of the role, for instance? Perhaps they ask for literacy skills that could put off certain sections of the population, but aren’t, in fact, necessary. Similarly, training has to be reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of the workforce.

More important, though, is what culture employees come into, because if it doesn’t welcome diversity, they won’t stay. At RNID, education has been a big part of the process, so that diversity training is included in the induction process, for example.

The charity is also developing a microsite on the staff intranet to raise awareness of diversity issues and best practice. 

There is a greater appreciation of customer needs. The customer is likely to receive an enhanced service due to dealing with more knowledgeable and better-trained employees.

As Jamil Ahmed at the National Centre for Diversity says, diversity has to be driven right the way through an organisation. ‘The chief executive might be doing a great job, but there can be pockets of bad practice where managers don’t really have the time to sit down with their colleagues and understand their issues,’ he explains.

Ahmed’s group helps organisations promote diversity and inclusion, partly through its Investors in Diversity standard, which provides a framework through which organisations can address the issues.

Last year, Leeds-based charity Together for Peace became the first in the sector to achieve the standard, and NCVO is now working towards it. According to Mike Love, a coordinator at Together for Peace, it’s a substantial piece of work, even for a charity as small as his, which has just three members of staff.

Finding new affinities

But even if ensuring an inclusive culture means significant work, it is worth doing, says Ahmed.

Those contracting with the public sector, of course, often know this already. They have seen increasing pressure to show evidence of a commitment to diversity from their funders. Moreover, since true diversity practice doesn’t ‘ignore’ differences, but maps them and uses them – finding new affinities and relationships – it can result in better service delivery, access to new audiences, to valuable volunteers, even to new potential pools of donors.

According to the National Centre for Diversity, there is likely to be a general improvement in how staff deal with external parties. By becoming an Investor in Diversity, the Centre says: ‘The customer, client or service-user base can be expanded and there is a greater appreciation of customer needs. The customer is likely to receive an enhanced service due to dealing with more knowledgeable and better-trained employees.’

‘The business case for diversity is now very clear,’ says Ahmed.

Nonetheless, he admits that quantitative research on the benefits is thin on the ground. Instead of looking for figures, he suggests that organisations must ask themselves what the impact of good management of diversity issues is likely to be.

What is it likely to do for recruitment and retention, for instance, or for motivation, absenteeism or workplace disputes? It’s likely all these areas would improve, since staff that feel accepted and valued will feel a greater sense of loyalty, commitment to, and involvement in the organisation.

But it’s only once organisations are properly monitoring what they are doing on diversity that they are going to be able to see the impact.

It is also true that some benefits will never be measurable. At the Charity Commission, for instance, executive director of Policy and Effectiveness Rosie Chapman points to its Faith and Social Cohesion Unit. This unit has been leading the Commission’s drive to encourage British mosques to register as charities. Does it help that the unit includes a number of Muslim employees who might better understand the viewpoint of, or have personal connections with, mosques’ leadership? Definitely. But can you measure that? ‘I’m not sure you could realistically have a control group to compare it with,’ says Chapman.

The reason RNID has been working to promote diversity in its workforce for about four years is very simple: deafness affects one in seven of the population and pays no regard to race, religion, gender, sexuality or anything else. ‘If we have a fair representation of the population we serve, we have a better chance of being able to access all the different groups we want to work with,’ says Vicki Hemming. Perhaps part of the reason more charities are not further along is that there can be opposition when organisations try to improve. After all, embracing diversity means facing up to change. As Dr Alice Maynard, chair of Scope and managing director of employment diversity consultants Future Inclusion, puts it: ‘Employees can be afraid of what is going to happen to them if the workplace becomes more diverse.’ That’s why it’s so important to understand the business case for investing in diversity, because the answer to those fears is to be able to clearly articulate it. ‘You need to explain why you want to do it, why it’s important and why the way you are doing it at the moment isn’t enough,’ Maynard says.

That means that those within the organisation have to recognise that the status quo can’t stand. As Mike Love at Together for Peace explains:

‘They need to be convinced of the need for diversity. Of the need and the benefit.’

NCVO offers advice and publications on diversity strategy, go to www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/askncvo for details. For information on the National Centre for Diversity and the Investors in Diversity standard, visit www.nationalcentrefordiversity.com

Find out more

Diversity Tips and Hints 

Case Study: NCVO’s Investor in Diversity project 

Engage magazine

Engage magazine brings you the biggest stories from the voluntary and community sector.

Be inspired and informed by real-life examples that will help your organisation thrive. Engage magazine is the independent magazine from NCVO, published 6 times a year.

Find out more about Engage magazine 

05 Comment
NCVO trustee Jamie Dear says it’s time to take a fresh look at your roots 

06 News
A round-up of recent stories, sector initiatives, global updates and campaigns 

10 Forward thinking
What’s the meaning of membership today? 

13 Opinion
The Archbishop of Canterbury calls for an end to short-term thinking in the sector 

14 Interview
NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington reflects on what the future holds for civil society 

18 Sector research
Two new academic centres are about to shift things up a gear 

22 Workplace diversity
Now a recognised route to a more effective organisation 

26 Celebrating 90 years
Five ways that campaigning has changed our world 

28 Major donors
Why trusted advisers could now be your perfect fundraising partners 

32 Sector insight
Sowing the seeds of social capital in Leicestershire 

34 Feedback
Current views from Engage readers 

35 Ask the experts
Our panel takes on a data dilemma 

36 Legal brief 
Is making redundancies the right move? We offer some alternatives 

37 Commission view
Andrew Hind advises careful handling to avoid employment tribunals 

39 Workforce development
CIPD and ACAS offer help on managing HR in a recession 

40 Events
The important industry conferences, meetings and training courses 

41 Resources 
The latest books, websites and more 

42 Spotlight
On Zimbabwe’s National Association of Nongovernmental Organisations

Changes in technology and a turbulent economy might lead to the idea that we are living in unique times but as Shelley said “History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man.”

In this issue we celebrate NCVO’s 90^th year of service to civil society.

Stuart Etherington, our distinguished Chief Executive, took the time talks to us about his 15 years at the helm, the state of civil society in the UK and his vision for the future. His experience, and passion for history mean that Stuart can never be accused of being fixated by the short-term.

Sadly this isn’t always true of political support for charities. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, laments the prevalence of short term thinking when it comes to voluntary sector funding and project planning.

Being ‘in it for the long haul’ is vital when you are trying to change society (especially if the mainstream doesn’t agree with you). We take a look at some of the campaigns that have been fought and won by voluntary organisations over the last 90 years and talk to some of the organisations that are still fighting for a fairer world.

The Britain that these campaigns have helped to build is much more accepting and much more diverse than the nation WWI soldiers returned to. We look at diversity in the workplace and rather than examining the moral justification for celebrating differences, we look at the business case. Failing to take diversity seriously can leave your organisation hopelessly out of touch with the rest of society.

Looking back over the last 90 years it’s amazing how often we find ourselves reliving the battles of the past. NCVO looks forward to the next 90 years of giving voice and support to civil society in Britain and around the world.

To find out more about the latest issue of Engage click here

The usually surefooted new president has been broadly criticised for apparently mocking the disabled on the show in a move that left Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, “a little bit heartbroken”.

In an interview that had been going very well, Obama moved away from talking about the economy and political issues to talk about life in the White House. The building famously has a one lane bowling alley but in his election campaign, Obama had suggested he was more interested in Basketball.

“I imagine the bowling alley has been just burnt and closed down,” said Leno. “No, no,” replied Obama. “I have been practising . . . I bowled a 129.” “That’s very good, Mr President.”

Mr Obama replied: “It’s like – it was like the Special Olympics, or something.”

It was obvious from Leno’s face that this had been a gaff and the President had mocked the sports body for people with learning disabilities.

Showing why he is such an expert communicator, Obama picked up the phone to Shriver almost as soon as the show had been recorded and apologised for what he had said.

He unreservedly apologised for causing offence and seems to averted major fall out from the gaff.

Shriver described the incident as a “teachable moment for the entire country, an opportunity to remind the ourselves of the powerful, damaging impact of stereotypes, no matter how innocent the intent.”

(Read Shriver’sofficial statement.)

The issue of diversity is massive in Britain as well as in the US. Recognising, celebrating and utilising differences is not just the right thing to do, it’s vital to the growth and success of organisations (especially those providing services to an ever more diverse nation).

Truely embraceing the diversity agenda means a culture shift for the workplace in Britain. It’s no longer acceptable to say, “I was only having a laugh, I meant no offence, I don’t see why I should have to change my behaviour because of the sensibilities of others”.

This, unfortunately, has produced insecurity and resentment in some.

They feel got at and is if they are being accused of being racist, sexist or discriminatory in some way for simply using words and terms that they have always used.

I close family member, who happens to be white, asked me one drunken evening, “do you think this political correctness has gone to far?”

I replied that it had gone far enough.

He went on to tell me that just be not knowing the right term to use for a group of people or by using expressions that he had grown up using, he was sometimes made to feel as he were racist or discriminatory against one group or other.

In my opinion, this is one of the real failures of the diversity agenda so far.

Although there’s still a long way to go, the agenda has done great work at making the working environment more accepting.

Sadly it has also left good natured people, like my family member, feeling insecure.

The message that making a mistake isn’t an executable offence has not been made clear enough.

Any change in a well intrenched mindset will take a while to work its way into our way of living and nobody should be crucified for making an honest mistake.

Where people have more to answer for is if their mistake is pointed out but they willfully carry on causing offence and refuse to modifiy their behaviour.

NCVO is working towards the new Investors in Diversity standard because we believe that as service to our members and the wider civil society, we should operate to the highest possible standards and because our extremely diverse membership would be best served by an organisation that has embraced this important issue.

Barak Obama knew that what he said was wrong and that it would cause offence and upset to many and moved quickly to acknowledge his error.

The publicity caused has brought the diversity debate (and the issue of people with special needs) to the forefront and if Obama can avoid making similar comments in the future, it is likely that this slip will not do him any long term harm.

So when all is considered, Obama’s first slip may actually do more good than harm.

We look at the business case for diversity in the next issue of Engage, the magazine of NCVO.

05 Comment
     NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington introduces a new team aiming to tackle the funding crisis

06 News 
    A round-up of recent stories, sector initiatives and campaigns

11 Forward thinking what are the future threats to public trust in the sector?

13 Opinion 
    BHA’s Hanne Stinson believes religious charities get an easy ride

14 Michelle Mone
     A comic relief celebrity apprentice who really means business

18 Sector voices 
    CEOs feel they are being heard

22 Effective campaigning
     A note of caution, but also inspiration for campaigners

24 Media strategy
     Why famous faces continue to hold their appeal for the sector

28 Working together
     The potential pros and pitfalls of sector mergers

32 Sector insight
     How TUC aid is reviving a proud trade union tradition in iraq

34 be engaged
     Feedback from Engage readers

35 Ask the experts 
    Our panel explains how to get started with payroll giving

36 Legal brief
     What a recent European Court ruling on annual leave means to you

37 Commission view 
    Andrew Hind on fee charging and public benefit

39 Workforce development
     Advice on expatriation from Cranfield school of management

40 Events
    Important industry conferences, meetings and training

41 Resources
     The latest books, websites and more

42 Profile
     Seymour Mattis of VITAL EET(Vital Education, Enterprise and Training)

www.beengaged.org

Similarly, with the economy, although the recession has barely started, we are already looking for the first ‘green shoots’ of recovery.

In uncertain times, securing public sector contracts might seem like a way to guarantee income as other funding streams, like the general public or corporate sponsorship, look shaky, but many charity leaders are worried about how this might affect their ability to fight for those they support.

In this issue we look at their concerns and give some advice on maintaining campaigning independence.

Like those hardly plants that seem to cling to life in the most hostile conditions, the drive to build a civil society thrives as soon as it is given the slightest chance.

Out of the rubble of Iraq, trade unionism is taking root and helping ordinary working Iraqis to think politically as they work for a better society.

Of course, deciding what makes a better society can depend on your individual outlook. Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanists Association, for example, believes that the new guidance on public benefit and religion is skewed in favour of faith groups and against secular organisations.

Any gardener will tell you that you need to respect the seasons and that winter is just as important as the summer for the health of the garden.

As painful as it might seem, the economic winter is an opportunity to take stock, slim down and reevaluate our goals and methods.

Here at NCVO, as we celebrate 90 years of supporting civil society, we know that the economy will recover and flourish again but also that we need to keep our nerve and remember those that we exist to give you support.

Read more about Engage and read a free article about trade unionism in Iraq

A proud tradition of trade unionism is building muscle with British help. Owen Tudor of TUC Aid describes the fight.

Shortly after the Coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003, a British army officer in Basra reported back to London on the state of the economy.

‘What these people need,’ he said, ‘is a union.’

Trade unionism in Iraq has a long history – in one notable effort, a million people marched against royal rule in the late 1950s – but Saddam Hussein took the movement over, eventually banning trade unionism altogether.

This meant that workers in Iraq spent a generation with unions which were at best transmission routes for Ba’athist diktats, and at worst an arm of the secret police. Illustrating the worst case, Chemical Ali, the Ba’athist leader who committed atrocities in Kurdistan, was at one stage imposed as head of the Ba’athist trade union movement.

As a result, the absence of a free and independent trade union movement is one of the lasting scars of Saddam Hussein’s period of rule. Under the Ba’athists, Iraqi workers had no one to defend them against their employers, against privatisation, or against redundancies. An entire generation has no experience of peaceful dispute resolution or running its own organisations.

And yet, soon after Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled, Iraqi trade unions re-formed.

People who were released from jail, returning from exile and emerging from the Iraqi Underground joined together in a union that crossed religious, ethnic and political boundaries, and was committed to equality and independence from government. The official trade union movement split into a religious wing and a Ba’athist group, and other workers’ organisations also sprang up.

In February 2004, I took part in an international trade union delegation to Iraq to meet the new trade union movement.

They took us to an oil refinery and a mass meeting of workers. In a clear indication of vibrant grassroots democracy, the workers there ignored the foreign visitors and quizzed their union leaders about bread and butter issues such as health and safety and wages.

During our visit we heard stories that have now become familiar: about workers responding to the disruption caused by the invasion, and sleeping in their factories or workplaces to guard them against looters.

These were people committed to rebuilding Iraq. They were also committed to democracy, liberty and peaceful resolution of disputes – all central to trade union activity.

We also journeyed to Iraqi Kurdistan, where trade unions had operated freely since the first Gulf War. They were well organised (even hairdressers have their own union) but isolated from the rest of the world, effectively trapped within their beautiful mountains in the north of Iraq.

They quickly reached an agreement with their Iraqi colleagues that built unity across the Iraqi/Kurd divide, based on mutual respect and recognition of diversity.

Kurdish teacher unions provided holidays away from the violence and disruption for their fellow Iraqi teachers working in harsher conditions.

In the years since, trade unions in Iraq have suffered violence from terrorists and former Ba’athists, and repression from the government, which has continued to use Saddam Hussein’s labour laws against them.

Many brave trade union leaders – journalists, printers, health workers – have been assassinated, while teachers have been threatened with death for teaching about equality and human rights. But they have continued to campaign for living wages, against oil privatisation and so on, peacefully, publicly and persistently.

Alongside and supporting this work, TUC Aid has aimed to sustain and develop trade unionism and, in particular, to promote day-to-day experiences of negotiating, decision making and democracy.

Training about union structures by our public services union, Unison, encouraged the Iraqi Teachers’ Union to hold regular elections and change its leadership twice over. And last year union work on equality led to the election of Hashemiya Muhsin

Hussein (the leader of Basra’s electricity workers), to the global executive of the international power workers (ICEM). She is an incredible role model for women in Iraq and the first Iraqi for a generation to be elected to that body.

Some of our unions have formed strong links with their opposite numbers in Iraq and Kurdistan, like the firefighters who were so appalled at the poor equipment supplied to their colleagues that they drove several fire tenders loaded with equipment all the way across Europe, as a donation.

Our teachers’ union provided a group of Iraqi teachers with a week of respite at their training centre in the Midlands (where they developed recruitment materials in between trips to see Shakespeare in Arabic at Stratford, and enjoying the dubious delights of watching a Kidderminster Harriers football match).

We have put special effort into rebuilding the Iraqi and Kurdish unions’ links with trade unionists in the rest of the world, hosting delegations of transport workers and teachers to the UK, and ensuring that Iraqi and Kurdish unions were able to take part in the formation of a new, single international trade union movement, the ITUC.

Sometimes we have contributed to sadder occasions. When my opposite number in Baghdad – Hadi Saleh – was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by former Ba’athists, TUC Aid paid for the memorial his union and his family wanted to erect, and published a book about his struggles and those of the whole Iraqi trade union movement.

The trade union movement in Iraq is similar to many other union movements in countries emerging from dictatorship and conflict (although its long and powerful history means it has more in common with those in developed economies). It gives working people a voice in decisions being made about their livelihoods and holds government to account. Being involved in a workplace union involves people in practical activities that involve compromise, negotiation and accountability.

Especially in divided societies, unions have to represent that diversity, so there is an inherent tendency towards a belief in equality and non-sectarianism. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for unions to avoid all of the tensions that occur in the societies they belong to – trade unions in developed countries also find it a challenge to involve women in positions of leadership, for example – but it means that they are willing to try, and TUC Aid is helping them to do so.

Owen Tudor is TUC aid secretary and head of the TUC European Union and International Relations Department.

This article appears in the latest issue of Engage magazine, from NCVO.

When Barack Hussein Obama II became the 44th President of the United States, it was the culmination of one of the most innovative, expensive and exciting campaigns in US history. It was also a bid fed by an unprecedented show of grassroots support, prompted by Obama’s assertion that his run was not about him, but about us; that, when people work together, change can happen, and the US can rediscover its innate talent for creativity, regeneration and invention.

His victory speech reminded the US people that their birthright was a government ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’, and that it is predicated on a spirit of patriotism –based not simply on a love of country, but on ‘service and responsibility, where each one of us resolves to pitch in and work harder, and look after not only ourselves, but each other’.

In the baldest terms, he appealed to the vanity of the country, asking it to prove to itself and ‘those watching from beyond our shores’, that the US was still the home of active, responsible citizens, and of a truly civil society.

If this is a radical new message for new voters brought into the Obama fold, for Dr Benjamin Barber it is very old news.

The author, academic and advisor to world leaders including Bill Clinton and Colonel Gadafy has spent four decades examining and explaining the character of America’s democracy and the foundations of its civil society.

A conversation with him includes reference to Thoma s Jefferson, Alexis De Tocqueville and John Dewey, as well as Bill Clinton– who Barber feels ‘squandered his charisma and power’ with the Lewinsky affair – and it’s clear that he never lost faith with the ideal.

In his America, the ethic of participation has never gone away. ‘Even under eight years of Bush, when the American people did not feel particularly represented and embodied, we continued to have an extremely robust local ‘government, municipal sector and civic participation,’ he says.

Anybody who thought, like Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, that the state is the problem and the market is the solution knows better now’

And in Barber’s view, all civic participation – be it with a parent teacher association, volunteering for the Red Cross or offering time as a volunteer fireman – is ‘part of what it means to be a citizen’. So what is crucial about the Obama election, he says, is that newcomers to the political process don’t lose faith once the real work begins.

Inspirational character

‘We can talk in theory about the beauties of service and citizenship and the inspirational character of the Obama campaign, but if once he’s president, all of those young people who were so engaged in the process don’t have a way to exercise their citizenship, the inspiration will fade. They’ll go back to being passive spectators, where politics is what they watch on TV.’

The real test, he says, is what Obama does to harness this energy, and Barber has a characteristically bold suggestion: ‘It may sound utopian, but if Obama really wanted to make good on this he would institute a form of mandatory national service for every young man and woman in America.

‘They would serve, say, for a year in an international peace corps service, in a domestic community service programme, in military service, or some other form of service in which they learn the meaning of citizenship, the meaning of participation, and the meaning of responsibility.’

Roads to democracy

In return, he believes they should receive funding for continuing education, ‘which would cement the relationship between education and citizenship, which are both roads to citizenship and democracy.’

Bill Clinton, he explains, did just that, going out of his way to make that connection through his Corporation for National and Community Service, which provided an institutional framework in which community and national service could unfold, and gave young people who were excited by the administration a way to engage in something other than just getting the president elected.

Why mandatory service? Barber is unequivocal in his response: ‘Citizenship is not discretionary; it’s not something we can have or not have. More than one democracy has died of lethargy, when citizens don’t pay attention and before they know it they have lost their liberty. Just as [schools] mandate the rudiments of mathematics, citizenship should be mandatory in the same sense.’

While he seems unconvinced that Obama will be able toe this hard line, he must at least, Barber says, offer opportunities for ongoing engagement and participation.

This, he says, can reinforce and energise the existing ‘independent sector’ – his preferred term for the voluntary and community sector, including NGOs – which historically has seen traffic running the other way:

‘Generally speaking, people who work hard in the independent sector to be responsible citizens become better citizens in the government and state sectors. But, in fact, the arrows go in both directions. An engaged citizenry that has been inspired by a political leader can also become more active in the independent sector.’

Whichever way the current runs, it leads to the same understanding: ‘That people who volunteer and are engaged in that sector are exercising an important form of citizenship, that’s related to what they do when they vote, when they do jury service, when they do military service.’

There’s never been a better time to emphasise this link, he says, since in modern democracies, and he includes the UK in this, it has recently been obscured: ‘We’ve tended to reduce citizenship to voting – that’s how you keep the bastards accountable – and paying taxes – which is how you fund the stuff they do – and that’s about it.’

Muddying these waters further, has been dominance of the private sector over the past 30 years, which has, Barber says ‘tried to sell us on the proposition that being a consumer is what being a real citizen is about – you can simply make private decisions as a consumer and that is all that’s required of you as a citizen of a democracy.’

This dangerous myth, he says, creates a ‘civic schizophrenia’, which leaves us torn between acting in a way that benefits only our wants, or in a way that we know is right for the larger society, so it’s not so strange that he seems almost to welcome the current financial crisis.

‘What’s great about the fiscal meltdown,’ he says, ‘is that it has indicated the failure of the market sector, the failure of that mythology. Anybody who thought, like Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, that the state is the problem and the market is the solution knows better now.’

And while he warns that there are people out there who want to simply ‘prime the credit pump and get things moving again’, he says confidently: ‘That’s not going to happen – we’re not going back.’

There’s no better time, then, for the US political momentum to spill over into every democratic society– including what he feels is currently a fairly cynical UK – and to signal a renewed partnership between the public, private and independent sectors, perhaps even a renaissance of civil society, in which we all play an important part.

‘We are moving into a period of greater partnership between democratic institutions, and for that to work we need a very robust and energetic conception of citizenship; people who take themselves very seriously as citizens – not just as voters, certainly not as consumers, but as active, responsible participants in civic processes at every level, and there the voluntary sector plays a very important role.’

Dr Benjamin Barber Live

Dr Barber delivered the keynote address at the NCVO Annual Conference, 18 February. Call Matt Gilfeather on 020 7520 3160 now to book your place.

This interview first appeared in Engage magazine, the magazine of NCVO

The inauguration today of US president Barack Obama brings the rare promise of change, despite the global economic problems that have gripped the world in recent months.
Placing all our hopes for a better world in the lap of one man, no matter how impressive he might be, would be an error. The important thing to take from Obama’s victory is that, by pulling together, unbelievable changes can be made.
This is true of organisations, as shown at the crisis summit held between NCVO, other charity leaders and the Minister for the Third Sector, Kevin Brennan. The summit showed how we can come together in pursuit of common
aims. In this case to ensure that the voluntary and community sector isn’t an afterthought as Britain faces the economic downturn.
It is also true of individuals, as the respected Dr Benjamin Barber says in our interview on page 14.

Harnessing the energy of the young and instilling a sense of civic responsibility from an early age should be one of Obama’s (and everyone else’s) first challenges.
It’s not just the young that have an important part to play in building civil society: in our article A Team for All Seasons (page 20) we look at how VCOs can make sure they engage the talents of all of their staff by acknowledging their different motivations. Of course, conflict can break out in even the best-run workplace and we look at new regulations for settling disputes in The Pressure’s Off (page 30).

We look forward to a year that promises to be both challenging and full of opportunities. Keep your letters and emails coming in and remember you are not alone, you’re part of growing and vibrant movement for good.

To subscribe to Engage or to request a free sample go to www.beEngaged.org