What is Pro Bono O.R.? (attend our event to find out more)

Pro Bono Operational Research (OR) is a scheme that places professional analysts in short term projects with third sector organisations to assist them in making evidence based decisions for operational improvements.

See more on Pro Bono O.R. and the event on the Voluntary Action Fund blog here.

To hear more about Pro Bono O.R. please register to attend ‘Forging Connections Between Business and the Third Sector’, a free event from VAF and Edinburgh Napier University on Thursday 14th Jan 2016 in Glasgow.

I shall also be presenting at this event on “Addressing the Scotland’s Grand Challenges: The Role of the Scottish Government Business ‘Community’ Pledge”. I look forward to seeing you there.

 

WORKSHOP: Enhancing Relevance and Impact in Brazil for Research in Green Technology Management & Product-Service Systems

May I strongly recommend the above workshop to be held in the University of Sao Paulo on 14-17 March 2016. I had the pleasure to be part of a similar programme last year at the same University. It was a tremendous experience and I am now part of two discussion groups looking at putting in funding bids for collaborations between Brazil and UK institutions.

All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Researcher Links programme. For further details, see here for details on the Aston University website. 

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE! Forging Connections between Business and the Third Sector event

Forging Connections between Business and the Third Sector:

Please join VAF and its academic partner, Edinburgh Napier University on Thursday, 14th January 2016 at the Mercure Hotel (Ingram Street) in Glasgow.

Come and hear more about the changing landscape of corporate and third sector working in Scotland.  Contribute to and shape paradigm shifting research on practical responses to the concept of responsible business, in light of the Scottish Government’s Business Pledge (https://scottishbusinesspledge.scot/).

We hope you will be able to attend, so please save the date in your diaries now.  FREE registration will be available on Event Brite very soon.

Untapped Talent: You and our Young Professionals as Trustees

Published on the Institute of Fundraising Blog (Scotland).

Diversity in the boardroom is certainly a hot topic at present; particularly gender-balance on boards is at the top of the agenda – rightly so. There is one other untapped source of talent; our Young Professionals. With the Charity Commission reporting that the average age of a trustee is 57, and with 67% of all trustees over 60, our boards are generally male, stale and grey.

Let’s not confuse the word ‘young’ with ‘youths’ – this would be a complete injustice to our young professionals. There are rules relating to legal capacity governed by legislation. You might be pleased to learn that we define a ‘young professional’ as anyone 56 or under.  Are you in? If so, by getting on board, one of your contributions will be to reverse this trend. We use the word ‘professional’ as we recognise the unique skill sets that we all have and can be of value to a board.

To read more, go to: http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/blog/untapped-talent-you-and-our-young-professionals-as-trustees/

 

“O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!” (Robert Burns)

VAF and Edinburgh Napier University Business School have been successful in gaining a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). One of the great things about a KTP is indeed the transfer and application of knowledge from a University to a business or organisation and getting the chance to think systematically through a problem and its solution. Our KTP is looking at the alignment and connectivity between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) / Sustainability polices and the real and emerging challenges of the third sector in Scotland as VAF believes in aligning these more effectively more resources can be brought to the communities in which we work.

See the full post: O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us! Robert Burns on the Voluntary Action Fund blog.