Anna Smallfield’s Post

Would you speak truth to power if you believed your company values were being compromised? Would you call out behaviours that didn't walk the company talk? Would you proactively make those small everyday efforts to live what you espouse? Would you (heaven forbid!) make yourself uncomfortable in defence of your company culture? Forget culture-carrier, are you a culture-warrior? I hope I am. I know I want to be. And I want to be because I truly believe I belong. I love the quote referenced by Natalie Benjamin below "belonging is a wildly undervalued condition for human performance". It resonated with so many of us at our Christmas party because at Ivy House London we know what we belong to. We belong to a tribe, driven by a shared mission and values that are important and lived in many and varied ways: from the little to the large, from sparklers to uncomfortable conversations. One of my first jobs was for a company with strong values, ahead of its time in terms of shouting about them. I loved it. I belonged to something I believed in. Until I realised it was all shout and no action. Then I got truly disillusioned. So I left. I remember how much it mattered to me at the time. The disillusionment was real and deeply felt. For years I looked back on that time as an example of the damaging impact of company hypocracy on its employees. At no point did it occur to me that I had a role in how the culture was lived. I can understand why - I was young and had no idea there was a part I could play, let alone how to play it. As we grow and change and do even more awesome stuff in 2025, it would be naive to think there won't be times when I might have a choice; perhaps to lean into discomfort or turn a blind eye? I no longer have the excuse of being young or ill-equipped. I know that if I want that warm fuzzy fabulous feeling of truly belonging (still here this morning so can't just have been the Prosecco!) I have a part to play. And knowing how much my CEO loves fancy dress, I've got a whole year to plan my "culture warrior" costume! 🦏 😎🦏

🎉 This week marks two incredible years at the NDSU Foundation working in Industry Relations! Over these two years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with some of the most talented and inspiring people, focusing on building a coordinated, integrated, and intentional approach that puts an industry lens at the heart of decision-making. In graduate school, we often reflected using the “Head, Heart, Hands” framework, and I thought this milestone was the perfect time to revisit it: 💡 Head – What occupies my thoughts most? We're constantly asking ourselves how we can create pathways and processes that make partnering with NDSU easy and impactful. The goal? To ensure our partners see a clear ROI and hear endorsements about working with NDSU—even when we’re not in the room! ❤️ Heart – What emotions are present in my work? Gratitude tops the list—for the incredible people I work with and the partnerships we’ve built. Hope is always there too—the possibilities ahead are boundless. And, yes, sometimes I feel a little exhaustion—my brain feels like it has a lot of tabs open! 🤝 Hands – What do I spend my time doing? As one of our leaders once said, “A good Development Officer isn’t in their office.” Much of my time is spent strategizing with campus colleagues, visiting companies where they work, and building relationships over (too many) cups of local coffee with our industry friends. Here’s to year three—there’s so much more to achieve, and we’re just getting started! The runway is long folks! 🚀

Meet Candy Yuen, a remarkable Swire Scholar whose journey from humble beginnings to becoming a CEO embodies determination and success. Her story showcases the transformative power of education and opportunity, and illustrates what perseverance can achieve.   We’re proud to have played a role in her academic journey, along with those of many other Swire Scholars. Watch the video to learn more about Candy’s inspiring story.   #Swire #SwireScholarship #SwireScholar

Join Julia Arngold for Part 2 of her campus tour around James Cook University, Singapore! 😊 Explore even more of her favorite spots and hidden gems on campus. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on all the insider details! And if you're a student or an alumni, let us know your favorite spot in campus, in the comments section below! 🤩 #jcu #jcusingapore #studentmarketercommunity #campustour #followmearound

Well done to all

Year-end Promotion is Comming

Have you considered joining our Executive Education program in October? Limited places remain, so please reach out if you'd like to chat with the team. Last year's participants found the program to be extremely rewarding, saying: "Although a senior leader in my organisation I am relatively new to 'sustainability'. This course blew my mind in terms of the opportunity and the role I can play in realising it." "An opportunity for senior executives, board members, innovators and public officers to better understand how they can influence and contribute to a healthier, happier and more sustainable world." "A thoroughly stimulating two days diving into the issues of our times and what that requires and invites from business. Fresh perspectives and lots of actionable content to take back to the office." Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/ggzcA7zn

Nominations for this programme are open

COME CHECK OUT MY FIRST BLOG POST!!!!

Interested in the Director of Institutional Giving role at Merit? Join us for this webinar next week to learn more! I will also post the job link in the comments.