What I’ve been doing
The week started off as a catch up and has expanded into spending some time with budgets (monthly reconciliation, projects ending soon, new money received), and fundraising planning (mapping reporting schedules, tracking progress on developing new opportunities). We’re in a period where there is more wrapping up than starting and there’s a balance to be found with the reality of the resource implications of that against energy and opportunities to be explored.
I was notetaker at this week’s Data and AI Civil Society Network meeting which was really well attended and engaged with. It’s a powerful space of sharing which seems to be valued by those that attend every fortnight.
I’ve been continuing to build my new social media home in Bluesky and there’s definitely an uplift in people posting there or Threads (I’m on Threads mainly for the celebs and brands). The only time I’ve missed X has been for instant comment on something happening.
What I need to take care of
The rest of September feels a little up and down in terms of the team. Two are off to Labour Party Conference for a couple of days, two are off to New York / Washington to discuss Global Citizens Assemblies and chat with other partners, and we’re hosting our final community campaigns cohort session, face to face in London. Around that we’ve got two Connected Conversations and working on proposals to submit to the AI Action Summit in Paris 2025.
I’m also looking forward to the first in this webinar series from the Office of National Statistics.
What I’ve been inspired or challenged or moved by
I had last week off, to coincide with the last week of the school holidays. Amongst other excursions the two teenagers and I hit the sea in Cornwall for a stand up paddleboarding lesson (Tabitha sensibly decided to stay ashore and take photos…I think being a Cornish gal she’s done the surfing thing). It was challenging physically using muscles that just don’t feature for me often but it was also fun and nice to try something different. I learned that I do not look elegant when falling off a SUP, nor do I have the upper body strength to get myself back on the SUP once I have fallen off.
What I’ve been reading
I’ve finished “Fearless Women” and followed that up with a short story “Blood Lines” by Stella Duffy (who is one of the most inspirational people in my life, and a fabulous author and more). I’m now deep into “The Defector” by Commander Chris Hadfield - its fiction based on fact, which I always seem to enjoy and it’s true of this book so far. I borrowed this from my local library, along with a couple of others.