The New P&L speaks to international development agency Deputy CEO, Hannah Pudner

There is often a fundamental misconception about nature of the relationship between corporates and their partners in the international development and charity sectors. The misconception is based on the belief that it is largely one way – businesses offering money, resources and expertise and those in the international development and charity sectors simply being the recipients of these. However, the reality is far more nuanced and reciprocal than that. These sectors have a huge amount to teach the corporate world about personal and community empowerment, aligning diverse groups of people around a common sense of purpose or cause, as well as how to effectively manage limited budgets to ensure there is a maximum return for both those you are investing in and those you have invested on behalf of. Over the next few years, as a result of the economic challenges placed on businesses by the pandemic, all of these fundamental characteristics will need to be embraced by businesses too if they are to weather the storm and engage and empower their employees in the process. This week, we speak to deputy CEO of United Purpose, Hannah Pudner. Based in Wales, UK, United Purpose is global leader in community-led development and grassroots innovation. For more than 40 years, it has worked with frontline activists, community organisations and individuals to help people across the globe gain agency over their own lives - so they can move ‘Beyond Aid’. We explore with Hannah the subtleties of the modern relationship between corporates and the charity sector; what moving ‘beyond aid’ actually delivers; the need to understand that ‘not-for-profit’ does not mean ’not-for-loss’; and how the pandemic offers an opportunity to fundamentally and positively change the relationship between donor and recipient at all levels. To learn more about what Hannah and her team at United Purpose do, please go to: www.united-purpose.org/