As 2023 comes to a close, some of the staff look back and choose their highlights of the year.
Gareth Oughton, member services manager:
“Personally, the highlight of 2023 is unquestionably the addition of our young son to our family. Running that highlight a very close second however has been joining the wonderful team at ACEVO. Leaving a space within civil society that I’d spent all of my working life within made me incredibly nervous, but I’m reminded on a daily basis why I have no regrets when I get to work alongside the talented, kind and caring team at ACEVO. The difference this wonderful collective of people make to members on a daily basis really does feel a special thing to be part of.
Having found my feet within the team, I’m enormously excited by what 2024 holds in store for our member service offer. I cannot wait to set about implementing the changes currently in development to ensure we add even more value to members and play our part in ensuring civil society is as strong as it possibly can be; particularly in the face of the broader challenges our sector continues to face.”
Diana Collier, admin and operations officer:
“My year at ACEVO has been short; I started in role at the end of September. Time though, is an elastic beast, and I feel in many good ways that I have been here far longer.
An overarching highlight for me is simply becoming part of a positive, energised and supportive team – a team that is pulling in the direction of care, support and compassion, and seeing how the members are at the core of everything that happens at ACEVO.
In specific terms, I have enjoyed learning about the governance structures at ACEVO and being part of the ongoing process of translating the structure into operational reality.
I am looking forward to my first ACEVOFest in March 2024.”
Melanie Jeanton, senior membership officer:
“I’m super proud of myself this year. I’ve taken on tasks and projects that to be honest I didn’t really want and also completed personal, health and professional challenges that have left me in awe of myself. I’m a superhero, damn it.
I know that might sound vain but sometimes you’ve got to be your biggest cheerleader and drive yourself uphill. Finding that little positive ray of light in amongst all the negative, doing the things I believe in and being kind to myself have all played a role.
I’ve had a title change too – check me out I’m now senior membership officer. We have expanded the ACEVO team and I am super proud to have trained my successor well. I’m also really glad to see our other new teammates settling in so well – welcome to you all, I can’t wait to help you all take ACEVO to the next level.”
Rahela Hussain, finance manager:
“I am very proud to say that I’m about to celebrate my 1st work anniversary at ACEVO (1st January). I could not be more lucky than I am to work with a genuine, kind, talented and multi-skilled group of individuals (honestly, you should see our creative challenge results!). ACEVO is a force to be reckoned with, not just due to the amazing support we give to each other within the organisation but also externally, in the way in which we help, guide, and provide a real ‘you can do it’ vibe to our members and non-members. I experienced this in real time at the ACEVOFest in March this year, which was the highlight of my year, as I saw first hand how we as a team positively impact our members.”
Shareen Patel, policy and influencing officer:
“My highlight of 2023 has been writing the policy roundups. This is something new to ACEVO after I came into the role. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much work is being done and when writing these monthly roundups, I realise just how much we are involved in and how much the team is doing to support its members and the wider sector. Another continuous highlight is when the team share feedback at random times from our membership on how well they’ve been supported by the ACEVO team in various aspects. It makes me feel grateful to be part of such a team!”
Marlene Cursoux, corporate partnership executive:
“2023 was a year of connections, growth and change for me.
The first highlight was similar to last year’s, as our team grew and new lovely colleagues joined ACEVO. We also held our first hybrid annual conference, giving me the opportunity to meet and connect in-person with some of our members and charity leaders as well as with some of our corporate partners (I really look forward to ACEVOFest 2024 in March next year!).
Our jobs platform ACEVO Jobs got a new look, improving the user experience, navigation and advertising process for charity recruiters and executive search firms on one hand and a better job search experience for job seekers on the other hand.”
Jenny Berry, senior support advisor:
“The highlight for me has been the additions to our member support team – with Gareth taking on the role as our leader and now with the additional days with Sarah to work us on the direct member support and Julia on the members personal development support. So positive!”
Heloisa Righetto, comms & content lead:
This year, I completed five years at ACEVO. I feel so at home here, and even though a lot has changed (new teammates from all over the country!), our culture remains strong. We are a fun, clever, and fast-paced bunch of people. We don’t take ourselves too seriously while doing very serious work.
I am also proud of the work I have been doing on LinkedIn. Our main page has been growing steadily, as well as our showcase pages for ACEVO Jobs and Home Truths 2. If you don’t follow us yet, go ahead and do it – this way, you won’t miss any of our updates.”
Natalie Westerman, membership and marketing manager:
“I have been away for most of 2023 on maternity leave, and in that time ACEVO has eight new faces in the team. Coming back to work after a year away was quite daunting, my brain and body were tired from all the joy and fear that comes from being a new mum. But in the time I was away, and with the changes in the team, the core of ACEVO hadn’t changed. It’s still a warm, kind, supportive and flexible place to work – and my gosh do I need it when dealing with all the sickness bugs my one year old seems to constantly pick up from nursery. And, the reason that we are here hasn’t changed. We are member driven, member focused and nothing we do is for our own self-importance, but for the people we are here to support, you the membership.”
Tom Andrews, senior support advisor:
“I write about the same thing every year. It is still true. Highlight seems an odd word to use; maybe another way of putting it is what has been most meaningful, and for me it has been the individual conversations with members. It is a privilege to support and be alongside leaders facing challenges with courage, vulnerability, self-awareness, and integrity. Other highlights include working with my fab colleague Jenny and welcoming Gareth to the team.”
Lauren Slack, membership officer:
“The best part of 2023 for me has to be reaching my one-year ACEVO work anniversary in November. This last year seems to have flown, but in that time I feel like I have learned so much about the organisation I work for and the people I work with, and this hasn’t stopped – I continue to develop my knowledge and hope that this will enable me to offer our fabulous members any help and support they need. I would also like to give a huge shout-out to all the ACEVO team. Not only have I gained new colleagues, I’ve made new friends.”
Jane Ide, chief executive:
“I’m going to pick out three highlights from what have been a year of highlights. The first was ACEVOFest in March and the comment from a member as she arrived at the start of day one: “This is so exciting; it’s a day away from the day job, it’s a chance to connect with other leaders again and best of all, I’m not responsible for any of it!” That summed up everything about the conference for me: it is our gift to our members, the chance to come together whether in person or online to imagine, inspire and improve, and at the same time to be given a blessed day away from carrying the load of leadership. I’m really looking forward to the next ACEVOFest in 2024.
My second highlight is also about giving our members the opportunity to come together in a different way, to have headspace and draw breath. In May we hosted the first ACEVO ‘walk and talk’ event, when around twenty of our members joined us in the glorious Peak District to do exactly that, and a second one in Bristol followed later in the year. My huge thanks to James Blake, CEO of Youth Hostels Association, and Ross Maloney, CEO of The Ramblers, for taking my dream of creating these events and making it reality with so much enthusiasm and commitment; and I can’t wait for the 2024 series of walks to be announced.
My third highlight is a more personal, inward looking one. Having been in the job just over a year I hosted my first ACEVO board away day in June. I feel acutely aware of how fortunate I am to have a wise, committed, bold, brave and deeply supportive board of trustees to help me navigate ACEVO into the future, and it was a great away day in its own right with some wide ranging, intelligent, strategic conversations. But more than that, on a personal level it shifted a gear for me. I realised afterwards that for my first twelve months in the role I felt as though I had landed well but I was still balancing on the balls of my feet, a little uncertain. The board away day was the point at which I felt I could put my feet firmly on the ground and know that this is my role, my place in the world right now, and that I could step forward with confidence. Which is something I cherish greatly as I look forward to what will be, unbelievably, my third year leading this amazing, exciting, incredible organisation.”
