Change Makers: Leadership, Good Business, Ideas and Innovation

Joining Michael on Change Makers is Rick de Blaby, the CEO of Get Living. Get Living are the build-to-rent pioneers, with a mission to change renting for the better. With almost 4,000 homes across three neighbourhoods in London and Manchester and four more on the horizon in the next two years, this is a 10-year story about where we belong and community at the heart of happy living. One of those neighbourhoods is East Village London – the site of the Olympic Village in 2012 – and where Michael joins Rick for this conversation.

Change Makers returns and we're joined by former Deputy Prime Minister and co-founder of Haymarket, Lord Heseltine. Michael paid a visit to the spectacular Thenford Arboretum and Gardens for this inspiring conversation with a beast of the political jungle. Lord Heseltine remains as sharp today as he was at the dispatch box, even aged 90 and with his famous blonde mane now a snowy white. From the lemonade stand that made him to how Liverpool changed him, and the legacy he sees for himself, you'll hear honest insights into the life of one of the UK's most consequential public figures in the 20th century. Did he really try to bring down Thatcher? Why does he think Brexit was a century-defining mistake? And is this political titan in fact a more reserved figure than his public persona emits? You can listen to this episode through all your usual podcast platforms, or watch it on our website changemakers.works to see the full beauty of Thenford Gardens and the three surprise guests who tried to disrupt the fun!

Michael is joined by George Clarke, the architect, TV presenter, lecturer and writer, best known for his work with Channel 4, including The Restoration Man and George Clarke's Amazing Spaces. Growing up on a Sunderland council estate, George was inspired to become an architect, spending summers on building sites with his grandfather. While studying at Newcastle University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, and London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, George supported himself by renovating people’s homes in his spare time, before turning his attention to TV and programmes that demonstrate the opportunity of space and the vital importance of the home.

We are excited to bring you the second episode of Journeys of Discovery – Change Makers’ collaborative series with the Royal Philharmonic Orchesta. Over the course of these interviews, Michael explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human that accompany nine incredible concerts. This week, the themes are Freedom and Redemption, and our guest Katy Emck OBE, knows a thing or two about both of those. As Founding Director of Fine Cell Work, Katy speaks to Michael about how she is helping to transform the lives of prisoners and ex-prisoners through needlework. Prisons can be “places of soul, spirit and connection”, says Katy. Rather than carrying out their sentences “full of rage and self hate”, prisoners should be permitted to embark on a journey of “self understanding and self acceptance”. Craftwork in prisons is common, but Katy feels there is something about the intense focus of needlework that provides a much needed “release from the here and now”. Whilst momentarily being transported out of their cell’s confinement, prisoners are also developing a skill, creating something they can be proud of, and generating income. This positions them with the self belief to rebuild meaningful, independent, crime free lives once they have finished their sentences. There is no better depiction of Katy’s belief in the power of freedom and redemption than her favourite song by Nina Simone, ‘I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free’, which she describes as the ultimate song about freedom, release and the longing we all have to break free of inhibition and to be connected. Through needlework, Fine Cell Work is opening one of the few doors of opportunity available to prisoners – allowing them both a glimpse of freedom, and a chance for redemption.

For our guest this week, there are 10,000 stories behind her message but perhaps above all, one reason to listen. For a message that is determined, optimistic and empowering, that is: “this next decade will be the best of my life yet”. Charlotte Keenan is the Managing Director of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women initiatives – providing women entrepreneurs around the world with business and management education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital. Alongside its sister programme 10,000 Small Businesses, which is committed to stimulating small business growth, it gives her a ringside seat into the importance of entrepreneurs to the economy and insights into how gloomy times for growth might glow again with the feel good factor of progress and potential realised.

Cécile Reinaud is the founder of Seraphine, the international maternity label worn by the stars. From Kate Winslet to Kate Hudson to Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Launched as a single store in 2003, over the next 15 years Cécile scaled the company and grew turnover to £18 million by 2018. Exporting to more than 30 countries around the world and winning two Queens Awards for Enterprise along the way. After exiting the business last year, Cécile has taken on roles as European Co-Chair of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women with a mission to empower women to start, grow, and sustain successful businesses. Michael and Cécile are also joined later in the episode by Xavier Mufraggi, CEO of YPO. YPO is a global leadership community of more than 30,000 CEOs in 142 countries. Its members are those who have achieved significant leadership success at a young age. Combined, their businesses contribute to over $9 trillion in annual global revenue. YPO supports them by fostering peer learning and inspiration as a community driven by values of open sharing and trust.

Andy Haldane is the Chief Executive of the RSA: the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce, and the former Chief Economist of the Bank of England. From 'Chicken Licken' warnings about inflation rates, to predictions of V-shaped recoveries, he's had little trouble in capturing the imagination with economic outlook - having been described by the Spectator as a "brilliant real world observer." Andy joined the RSA in 2021, which he describes as an "enlightenment institution" that has provided him with new tools to tackle cross-sector issues, in order to affect long lasting change.

Sian Sutherland is the co-founder of A Plastic Planet, the campaign group supporting one single goal: to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap. It's a straight talking message that looks to reject the information and greenwashing around plastic, increasing the use of materials that nature can handle, and eliminating those it cant. Through a three-pronged framework to 'reduce, refill and replace', A Plastic Planet is a call to action to business, media and policy makers to pull the plug on production in an industry which, if it were a country, would be the world's fifth largest polluter. It's a story of a campaigner for whom the words 'why not' are not in her vocabulary and whose tip for life is: 'We have a duty to be joyful. We are the lucky ones.'

Brett Wigdortz is the founder and CEO of Tiney, the startup offering what it calls an ‘Amazon-type solution for childcare’, which he founded after seeing how difficult it was to find reliable childminding options as a father of three. Before turning his attention to early years education, Brett founded and spent 15 years as the CEO of Teach First, a world renowned charity focused on incentivising new graduates to get into teaching, which he led to become the largest recruiter of graduates in the UK. If there’s a theme here, it’s about backing the next generation, children, citizenship, society and beyond.

Michael Hayman's guest today is Rebecca Ryan, the futurist and founder of Next Generation Consulting, with a mission to help individuals and organisations develop foresight, to create brighter futures. Described as a "human spark plug", Rebecca looks at the signals to establish the future trends of our economies, supporting people to prepare rather than predict. It's about using strategic foresight to prepare for the unknown. Listen now to hear their discussion about the road ahead, and Rebecca's advice on how to think like a futurist.

Elisa Moscolin is Executive Vice President of Sustainability for Sage, the integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems market leaders supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. With a mission to transform the way people think and work, and enable organisations to thrive, Sage grew from a small business itself to one of the UK's most successful scaled up stories, and a member of the FTSE100 with 11,000 employees around the world. But if you thought this was where Elisa’s story began, you'd be wrong. It begins with a trip to Ecuador at age 16, which Elisa said changed her life and made sustainability her mission.

Jason Knights is Managing Director of Ground Control, the fast-growth external maintenance business and biodiversity expert committed to enhancing and improving the physical environment. He recently penned a piece for Fast Company making the $5 trillion case for improving biodiversity and the essential role that businesses can play in addressing the challenge. It's an ambition propelling the rapid growth of Ground Control through an environmentally friendly approach to commercial landscaping and fostering new approaches to protect the natural environment.

Change Makers is delighted to bring you the first episode in a brand new series with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Journeys of Discovery. This major new season with a great deal of creative expression, focuses on three core questions: What does it mean to be human? What is our place in the world? What are we dreaming of? All fundamental issues humans have pondered for centuries, and composers have attempted to answer through music. Over the course of nine conversations, we explore fundamental questions about what it means to be human that accompany nine incredible concerts. The first theme of the season is Awakening. And while Wagner, Grieg and Strauss provide the soundtrack, Michael will be joined by Kamal Ahmed, Co-Founder and Editor-in-chief, The News Movement, to offer the commentary. Listen now to hear Kamal’s words of reflection there from his outstanding memoir, The Life and Times of a Very British Man, and a very personal take on his own journey of discovery. With special thanks to our audio partners at RODE, and to the BBC for providing the soundtrack, Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra. Find out more and book tickets for the RPO’s Journeys of Discovery series at rpo.co.uk/journeys.

After 12 years running Twitter in Europe and YouTube in the UK, Bruce turned to writing and speaking about one of the topics of our time, the modern workplace. His first book, The Joy of Work, was the Sunday Times number one business best seller and draws on the experiences of psychologists, neuroscientists, and workplace experts to understand how we can improve our jobs. It was to go on to inspire the creation of his podcast, Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat. Now, his attention is on the topic of resilience in fortitude, and unlocking the secrets of inner strength. Bruce seeks to disprove the myth that only extraordinary people are successful, and demonstrate how we can draw on those around us to empower ourselves and build our inner strength. Never in the history of resilience, has someone become more resilient by being told to be more resilient. Listen now.

“Black economic empowerment relies on thinking bigger than you may have ever imagined before. Much bigger.” These are the words of Michael’s guest today, Eric Collins, and are contained in his new book, We Don't Need Permission. It's a clarion call to change the world for good, and it's far more than the words of an author; because this is the story of an economic activist. Eric’s career highlights include successfully building the value of companies including AOL, Time Warner and SwiftKey; working on President Obama’s Small Business Administration Council for underserved communities; as well as being named by Powerlist as one of the most influential black people in Britain and by the Financial Times in the UK’s Top 100 BAME leaders. Now CEO of the London based venture firm Impact X, Eric has built a business with a double bottom line mission to advance progress and social mobility for underrepresented founders, and to generate returns for investors by funding the undiscovered and creating the extraordinary. If you're looking for the story of business as a force for good, this is it. Listen now.

It’s 10 years since the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. To celebrate, Change Makers is delighted to welcome one of our greatest ever Olympians, who many say is one of the trailblazers that paved the way for the world class athletes representing Team GB today. Duncan Goodhew MBE scored gold in the 100 metre breaststroke in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, in a dramatic nail biting finish that went down to the wire. It marked a remarkable transformation for a young man who described himself as “drowning” during his time at school, struggling with the challenges of dyslexia. In a story of resilience and ambition, Duncan overcame the odds to become one of the most recognisable British sporting figures of the 20th century, and lives by the motto, you're only as good as your worst day. Listen to his conversation with Michael now.

Bella Lack is a conservationist, campaigner, writer, filmmaker, board director and foundation ambassador. It's an impressive CV for the most storied of careers, but in Bella's case, she's achieved it all before most people have even got going with their own careers. At only nineteen, Bella has carved out a name for herself as an inspirational and respected environmental campaigner. Her first book, Children of the Anthropocene, tells stories from young people at the heart of the climate crisis, and received plaudits, including the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and the legendary environmentalist Jane Goodall, among many others. It's been described by the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas as an inspirational manifesto for change, and the naturist Steve Backshall as a remarkable and important book, adding that Bella can change the world.

Taban Shoresh is founder of the Lotus Flower, the non-profit empowering vulnerable women and girls affected by conflict and humanitarian crises, and an ambassador for the Global Youth Movement, One Young World. Taban’s remarkable story started in Kurdistan, where her family were amongst the many persecuted by Saddam Hussein’s regime in the Kurdish genocide. Her horrific ordeal saw Taban imprisoned at the age of just four and later, narrowly escaping a mass live burial. Coming to the UK as a refugee in 1988, Taban built her life here, later moving into asset management. But in 2014, amidst the persecution of the Yazidis by Islamic State, she turned her attention to humanitarian aid and peace-building, supporting survivors of genocide, and women and girls displaced by conflict. Listener discretion advised: this week’s episode includes references to challenging issues, including genocide, sexual and domestic abuse.

Cheryl Giovannoni is CEO of The Girls Day School Trust (GDST), a cohort of 25 independent schools that encourage girls to learn without limits. With alumni including Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter, Afua Hirsch, Miriam Margolyes, and Mary Beard, among many others, the Trust schools look to develop character beyond curriculum and individual progression for each of its students. The GDST was founded in 1872 by four pioneering women and Suffragettes, Mrs Maria Grey, her sister Miss Emily Shirreff, Lady Stanley of Alderley and Miss Mary Gurney. They believed that girls should be entitled to the same academic education as their brothers. Today, with 19,000 students and almost 4000 staff, the Trust has doubled down on its commitment to work with future generations of women who will change the world for the better, for us all. Cheryl joins Michael on Change Makers to discuss the education landscape in the UK today, the power of learning to shape lives, and leadership lessons from her career in advertising as well as education ahead of her speech at the National Coalition of Girls Schools’ Global Forum in Boston, next week.