Kia ora from Amanda,
I hope the summer holidays brought you what you needed most. I’m Amanda Reid, the Chair of The Workshop Board. Although this is the first time I've written to all of you, I’ve been working with Jess and Marianne at The Workshop for three years, initially as a mentor and advisor, and over the past year as Board Chair. I have 20 years of experience in the social and health sectors, and am currently Principal Consultant at BERL. Prior to BERL, I worked at the Institute of Directors in the Governance Leadership Centre.
As we return to work in a new calendar year, it's natural to take some time to look back at what we’ve learnt from the past year and then look forward to how we might continue to adapt and improve the work that we do. We want 2024 to be our most impactful yet.
We began 2023 cautiously, as we recovered from sudden and painful changes in our team in the wake of a significant financial challenge. Over the course of this year, we have rebuilt steadily and have been encouraged by the continued demand for and interest in our work and the support of our clients, funders and collaborators.
As a team, our commitment to our mission has only deepened, and many of us have taken on new levels of leadership. Recognising an opportunity to build on this shared leadership, the Board and the Co-Directors began a process of exploring how to best organise for the future.
Over the past six months we have been exploring leadership models and structures which would set The Workshop up for future opportunities. We wanted to ensure our new model would thrive through leadership change, including the inevitable eventual departure of one of the founders.
We have settled on a model which retains the strengths of our founding co leadership model, while addressing the challenges of a job-sharing model. We will retain two co-leaders. One of those leadership roles will be focused on operations and business development, the other will focus on the substance of our work in narrative change and impact.
We have begun the transition process by advertising for a new role, a Director of Operations and Business Development, we invite you to share this opportunity within your networks. Applications close on 31 January and we hope to complete the recruitment process in February.
As part of this exploration process, and after careful consideration of the opportunities for the team and organisation, our Co-Director Marianne has decided this is a good time to leave The Workshop. Marianne recognises that her departure now will create opportunities for others in the team and enable the recruitment of a new Director alongside Jess who can focus on the essential work of operations and business development.
We will continue to update you as we progress. Best wishes for the start of 2024.
Ngā mihi
Amanda