
Change Conversations: 2025 in focus
2024 was anything but predictable. With no end to the cost-of-living crisis, war, and political turbulence, is it any surprise that we’ve entered a period of mass apathy?
So, what does 2025 have in store for us? And importantly, what does this mean for the third sector, on the front line of issues, where support is now more important than ever?
GOOD was joined by leading charity figures for our fifth annual Change Conversations event, where they discussed their fears, hopes and predictions for 2025.
We were joined by:
Brian Dow – Deputy CEO of Rethink Mental Illness
Tanya Curry – CEO of Motor Neurone Disease Association
Abigail Ampofo – Interim CEO of Refuge
Tim Wainwright – CEO of WaterAid, UK
Sarah Fowler – CEO of WWT
Michelle Lee-Izu – Chief Operating Officer of Barnardo’s
Here are the key takeaways:
The importance of partnerships.
The main takeaway from the event was the need for partnerships and cross-sectoral conversations. Sarah Fowler made the point that “we’re in danger of talking to ourselves within the sector” and urged charities to “listen to other perspectives” in the coming year. She added that there is an “appetite for change” within the sector, providing “opportunities to really step into partnerships that we’ve never had before”.
Tim Wainwright added that “the biggest problems in the world are no longer likely to be solved by siloed approaches that don’t work across sectors”. But warned not to “go and join the crowd of 20 other organisations who are all calling for the same thing, because all you’re doing is turning that 20 into 21.”
Michelle Lee-Izu said it’s about “looking at those corporates who might want to work with us, and trusts and philanthropists who might want to work with us on getting that system change, including statutory partners”.
AI in the Third Sector
Abigail Ampofo said that she “sees a lot of value that AI can bring to the charity sector and beyond”, but she raised a genuine concern about “tech safety” when using AI.
She flagged that given the work Refuge do supporting women who have experienced domestic abuse, she emphasised the need to “maintain a degree of caution and for us to really be cognizant of the risks.” She said, “We know that perpetrators can and do weaponise things; AI is not unique in that.” She referenced that “women and girls are disproportionately affected by certain types of AI tools”, such as deepfakes.
Whilst Tanya Curry shared the same safety concerns, she raised a good point that “there will be some huge areas of innovation and efficiency that we can have by adopting AI”, although “It doesn’t take away the need for expertise and humans”. Tim Wainwright echoed this by saying it “could elevate people’s work by doing the mundane”, such as “pulling together a report that needs to draw on multiple complex data sources internally. If you can get an AI tool to support you by doing a draft, and then the skills of a communicator are devoted to making that really sing, communicate it really well, it makes their job much more interesting and makes the whole process quicker and more productive.”
Optimism and solutions
Brian Dow noted that “the biggest challenge for sector leaders is maintaining the case for optimism and persistence” in the face of perma-crisis and mass apathy. Showing the “data and the examples of good stories. Telling those stories to remind the public there’s a lot of really positive things happening so that we can hold on to the positive change.”
Tanya Curry also made the point that in these “whirlwinds”, it’s essential to “hold on to the purpose of your organisation. What is your mission? What are you there to do?”
Michelle Lee-Izu spoke with excitement about the year ahead, saying that “challenge and change brings is a real pressure to think outside of the box.” For them, that means thinking about “how we involve children and young people right at the centre of whatever we do. Whether that be speaking truth to power through young people speaking to politicians and to decision-makers” In her experience when you do that, “they come up with the solutions that we sometimes as adults are really challenged to find”.