An interview with Aimee - Our soon to be Head of Community and Impact

Aimee, would you like to introduce yourself to those who haven’t already met you?

Yes definitely, I’m Aimee and I grew up between South London and Suffolk and I struggle to sit still for more than 30 minutes. I’ve been with The Social Change Nest since late November and was initially brought on board to cover for the amazing spreadsheet queen that is Eda. 

Can you tell us a bit about your background and experience? 

Of course, I’ve been working in the social impact space for over 10 years, focussing my energy on building collaborative and impactful relationships and programmes across grantmaking and campaigns. After leaving university I spent several years working in Paris for a social enterprise start-up, specialising in solutions-focused journalism as I was always keen to learn the story behind the social impact. Following the Brexit vote, I returned to the UK even though I didn’t need to (thank you Irish passport 🍀) and started working in community building and grantmaking in the UK human rights space, aware of the impact the vote to leave would have on the sector. 

What changes are you looking forward to making?

So many, although I already think we’re pretty awesome! When I started with The Social Change Nest in late November I quickly identified the incredible opportunity for community building and networking across all the inspiring organisations we collaborate with. I know from conversations with the team that shifting towards a more community-centred way of working has been an intention for a while now. Whenever I speak to any of the groups, they’re frequently enquiring about peer learning opportunities or keen to learn about other groups within our network who are doing similar work or operating in the same location.

We’re currently giving ourselves some real thinking time to brainstorm about how we can redesign how groups travel through The Social Change Nest ecosystem. This will be a huge piece of work and will involve lots of getting out and about, talking to our stakeholders and understanding what they want from us and how we can further enhance our services. We’ve got a couple of early-stage ideas in mind and will be reaching out to hear your thoughts. 

I’m confident that this new way of working will facilitate greater social impact for groups receiving funding through our fiscal hosting service. 

I think there is also a piece of work to do around grounding the relationships and partnerships we enter into around common understanding. We’re all incredibly committed and motivated to driving forward collaborative social impact and easing one another’s journeys towards that change, but at the same time, we’re all operating in a space that can be complex and frustrating, especially as many of us are constantly innovating new ways of doing things which is incredibly exciting but also at times a step into the unknown.

What do you love about working at The Social Change Nest? 

That’s an easy one. It’s without a doubt the team and learning about the amazing work being carried out by the changemakers we collaborate with. Before joining The Social Change Nest, I spent several years working with more traditional grantmakers and I get a real buzz about being able to direct funds to groups and people doing incredible work in ways that don’t conform to that traditional top-down funding approach. 

Now for some non-work questions, just to get to know you a little better… If you were to describe yourself as 3 emojis, which ones would you pick and why? 

That’s easy, laughing face, the stunned face with the big saucer plate eyes and then the person holding their hands up in a state of disbelief. I try and laugh my way through life in a state of going through the flow and feel like these three emojis pretty much sum up that attitude.

What can you usually be found doing outside of the office? 

Hot yoga, running, cycling around London or bikepacking with my tent out in nature. If I’m away for more than a couple of days then you’ll probably find me out hiking in the mountains somewhere. 

What’s your favourite place you’ve travelled to? 

I’m a bit of a nomadic soul at heart and actually spent two years living in New Zealand before starting at The Social Change Nest, but I think my favourite travel destinations have probably been Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.