Alex Skailes, Centre for Charity Effectiveness

Alex Skailes
Director, Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE)
Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), Faculty of Management
City, University of London

Navigating the Future of Charitable Leadership

The past decade has witnessed a whirlwind of change and uncertainty across the globe. Despite these challenges, the UK’s charitable sector has continued to make significant contributions to the philanthropic field. To thrive in this ever-evolving landscape, charity leaders must continue to adapt and develop, meeting the cascading demands of their roles.

A pioneering research project, led by the Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London, is taking a proactive stance by investigating the critical attributes that charity Chairs of the future will need to embrace. This ambitious initiative brings together a diverse array of thought leaders and experts in the sector to delve into this vital topic. The research methodology encompasses roundtable discussions and in-depth interviews with contributors, culminating in a thought-provoking report set to be launched in Spring/Summer 2024.

The Bayes Centre for Charity Effectiveness leads this project, with funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund, additional sponsorship from Green Park Recruitment and support from strategic partners including the Association of Chairs and Crowe UK LLP.

Research Objectives and Impact

This research project has set forth several key objectives:

• Shaping Future Leadership: The project aims to provide insights that will shape the future development and recruitment of charity Chairs, ensuring they possess the requisite skills and attributes.
• Sustainability and Governance: By highlighting long-term considerations for board discussions, the research contributes to the future sustainability and impact of the charity sector.
• Influencing Best Practices: The findings intend to inform regulatory measures and best practice guidelines within the sector, emphasizing the ever-evolving nature of charity governance.
• Value of Governance: The project underscores the critical value of effective charity governance, emphasizing its continuous evolution to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world.

A Decade of Change: Anticipating the Future Charity Chair in 2033 and Beyond

The journey of the CCE Future Charity Chair steering committee commenced in July 2023, when representatives from diverse charitable organizations convened to share their invaluable insights and experiences. Reflecting on the past decade and the profound changes witnessed, the workshop sparked discussions about the skills and attributes necessary for future charity Chairs in 2033 and beyond.

The decade between 2013 and 2023 brought seismic shifts that reshaped our world. From political transitions to technological advancements, the pace of change was relentless. We adapted to living in a state of perpetual crisis, moving from one transformative event to another. This relentless change underscores the need for the charity sector to thrive amid uncertainty, making it crucial to explore and understand the evolving role of charity Chairs.

A pivotal workshop with Good Innovation provided an opportunity to examine the disruptive elements likely to impact the sector. Representatives from various charities engaged in fruitful discussions, touching on topics such as Artificial Intelligence, climate challenges, funding dynamics, stakeholder expectations, and regulatory changes. While the sector’s diversity remains evident, common threads emerged, offering valuable insights.

Key takeaways from the workshop include the evolving nature of leadership, with discussions on movements, networks, and collaborative and generative leadership. Sustainability, succession planning, and the focus on collective impact were also central themes. Emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and ongoing personal development were highlighted, as was the importance of trust-building, vulnerability, and team empowerment. The necessity for increased diversity was recognized, including a focus on less visible forms of diversity. The increasing importance of creating social value from outside of the sector was also part of the debate, with more corporate entities seemingly entering the space once uniquely occupied by charities.

As this research project advances, with individual interviews and further roundtables, these initial findings and reflections will be explored in greater depth. For those interested in contributing or learning more, please keep an eye on the project’s website.

NACC Member Representative

Alex Skailes is a senior academic within the faculty of management and Director at the Bayes Centre for Charity Effectiveness (www.bayes.city.ac.uk/faculties-and-research/centres/cce).

Alex is an experienced strategy and finance director with a successful track record of advising and leading clients in the nonprofit and private sectors. She believes passionately in the power of cross sector working. Alex has combined the first class skills and expertise gained from her earlier senior career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deutsche Bank with a period of post graduate academic study and consulting work focusing specifically on the nonprofit sector. As a result of her cross sector experiences, she is able to harness best business practise and strong commercial experience with leading edge thinking for a sector that is currently undergoing transformation.

Alex specialises in strategic and business planning, feasibility and options studies. She teaches and co-leads the main core module ‘Resource Management in the Voluntary Sector’ on the MSc Charities programme. She has a particular interest in mergers, collaborations and sustainable business models and was a founder member of the mergers and collaborations advisory group within Bayes’ Centre for Charity Effectiveness (Bayes CCE) in 2014. In 2018 Alex joined the Executive PhD programme. Her research focuses on merger and acquisitions within the social purpose organisations, an exploration of the resultant social value created and the factors that drive this form of organisational change.

As a Director at Bayes CCE, Alex leads the team of core directors and associate consultants. The team are expert in nonprofit management, have senior cross sector career experience and come from both practitioner and academic backgrounds. The Centre is a leading nonprofit and philanthropy centre in the UK and overseas and delivers a world class blend of postgraduate master (MSc) degree programmes, research, consultancy and leadership development programmes both in the UK and overseas.

Alex is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA), holds their post graduate diploma in charity accounting and has an MSc with distinction from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) in Voluntary Sector Management. She holds a BA from University College, London. Alex is a Fellow of both the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce and the Royal Geographical Society and is a Freeman of the City of London. She is on the finance and audit committee of The Seckford Foundation, former Chair of Community Action Suffolk and is a member of the International Women’s Forum UK branch.

Dr. Euan Hague, DePaul University

Dr. Winifred Curran
Professor, Urban Geographer
Geography and GIS, Sustainable Urban Development
School of Public Service
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
DePaul University

Dr. Euan Hague
Professor, Director of School of Public Service
Geography and GIS, Sustainable Urban Development
School of Public Service
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
DePaul University

Resistance is not about any one project or tactic, but rather is a constellation of practices and events that creates an alternative of what a neighborhood could be and who it should serve. This requires what we call “long resistance,” a sustained and multi-faceted engagement with community-building and contestation that utilizes a full array of tools in the community organizing toolbox, from direct action to electoral politics. In Never not Organizing, Winifred Curran and Euan Hague, Professors at DePaul University, illustrate one such case of long resistance by detailing the history of struggle at one site in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood on the lower west side. Through decades of activism around housing justice, activists have reshaped the conversation around urban development, leading to successful organization against market rate housing and the city’s commitment to build affordable housing on the site.

Offering a new theoretical framework for understanding gentrification and displacement, A Research Agenda for Gentrification focuses on resistance as the central research area in this subject field. Arguing that the future of gentrification research should focus on accomplishing the end of gentrification, chapters provide practical organizing and policy strategies using international case studies which are rooted in community-based research.

Dr. Winifred Curran is an urban geographer. Her research has focused on understanding the effects of gentrification on the urban landscape, looking at labor, industrial retention, policing, environmental gentrification and the gendering of urban policy. She is the author if Gender and Gentrification (Routledge 2018) and co-editor, with Trina Hamilton, of Just Green Enough: Urban Development and Environmental Gentrification.

Professor Euan Hague is a cultural and urban geographer with interests in gentrification, urban activism, Confederate commemoration, and cultural relationships between Scotland and America. His work examines how Chicago’s cultural and urban landscapes have developed historically and are continuing to change and he lives in that city where he regularly engages in community-based research and collaboration with local non-profit organizations. Dr. Hague’s recent work includes partnerships with the Pilsen Alliance, the Chicago Furniture Bank, and the DC-based food justice organization, Roots for Life.

Dr. Kylie Kingston, Queensland University of Technology

Dr. Kylie Kingston
Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Law, School of Accountancy
Queensland University of Technology

Advancing Beneficiary Accountability Through Research: A Conversation with Dr. Kylie Kingston

Dr. Kylie Kingston, a dedicated lecturer and emerging researcher within the School of Accountancy at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), has been making significant strides in the realm of nonprofit studies. With a rich background spanning two decades in diverse educational settings, Kylie’s journey has been driven by a fervent commitment to improving the conditions of marginalized individuals and stakeholder groups. Her interdisciplinary and collaborative approach has resulted in a body of research that intertwines critical perspectives on accounting, accountability, evaluation, ethics, and education, yielding insights that hold immense value for the nonprofit sector.

Kylie’s journey into academia was shaped by her profound experiences working and volunteering in various nonprofit organizations. She identified a crucial gap in the voices of beneficiaries and their influence within these entities. This realization kindled her interest in pursuing a doctoral degree to delve deeper into beneficiaries’ participation in evaluation, with the aspiration of enhancing their impact within organizations.

Her path led her to QUT, where she continued her pursuit of knowledge and exploration. Having completed a coursework Master of Business at QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS), Kylie’s association with the institution kindled her passion for research and set her on a trajectory to become a leading scholar in the field.

Kylie’s recent research paper, “Examining the re-territorialisation of beneficiary accountability: Digitising nonprofit services in response to COVID-19,” delves into the evolving landscape of nonprofit accountability amidst the pandemic. This comprehensive study, conducted through case studies of Australian nonprofit organizations, explored the repercussions of digitizing services in response to the pandemic. The research found that digitalization had both positive and negative impacts on beneficiary accountability, shedding light on the intricate dynamics between technology, service delivery, and stakeholder engagement.

Surprisingly, one organization witnessed an improvement in accountability through digitalization, as it extended access to services for beneficiaries, particularly those in regional areas. In contrast, another organization revealed a longing for the return of face-to-face interactions despite the digital offerings. These findings underscore the importance of considering the diverse needs and preferences of beneficiaries while navigating digital transformations.

Dr. Kingston’s work has far-reaching implications, urging nonprofit organizations to critically assess the consequences of unexpected changes on their beneficiaries and accountability practices. Her dedication to empowering marginalized voices continues as she delves into further research, interviewing older individuals and staff in the Australian aged care sector to refine practices and policies surrounding beneficiary participation in evaluation.

Dr. Kylie Kingston’s trajectory exemplifies the profound impact that dedicated research can have on the nonprofit sector, amplifying the voices of those often unheard and fostering more inclusive and accountable organizational practices. Her commitment to advancing the field through interdisciplinary collaboration and critical inquiry serves as an inspiring model for aspiring academics, researchers, and administrators within the nonprofit domain.

Our full interview with her is below.

Q&A with Dr. Kylie Kingston

What interested you in pursuing a doctoral degree? What interested you in philanthropy and nonprofit related studies? 

My interest in pursuing a doctoral degree arose from my industry experience working and volunteering within a variety of nonprofit orgainsations. Here I noted that beneficiaries frequently had less voice (both verbal or non-verbal) within organisations than other stakeholders, and I was interested in researching ways that might be changed. My doctoral research focused upon beneficiaries’ participation in evaluation as a way of increasing their organisational impact.

What made you decide to attend QUT? How has your experience at QUT influenced or advanced your career path and/or your service to your community?

I chose QUT for my doctoral studies because I had completed a coursework Master of Business at their Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS). Involvement with the ACPNS spurred my interesting gaining research qualifications to become a researcher within this area.

What issues are you passionate about? What’s a big idea you think about?

I am passionate about beneficiaries being listened to and their voices (both verbal and non-verbal) impacting services they receive and organisations they are involved with. I often think about how we can do this better for beneficiaries that are non-human, like animals or the environment.

What would you like to share about your recent research article, “Examining the re-territorialisation of beneficiary accountability: Digitising nonprofit services in response to COVID-19”?

This research focusses upon accountability toward beneficiaries within nonprofit organisations. The research involved case studies within two Australian nonprofit organisations where changes in accountability toward beneficiaries, in response to the digitalisation of services during the COVID-19 pandemic, where noted. We explored the impact of these digitalised changes upon beneficiaries as we wanted to understand if beneficiary accountability was improved or hindered during this period.

Our findings revealed unexpected results, where accountability was improved within one organisation where online services enabled more beneficiaries, particularly those living within regional areas, to be able to access services. Here beneficiaries hoped that newly digitalised services would continue after COVID-19 had ended. Within the other organisation studied, digitalised services allowed beneficiaries to continue their connection to the organisation even when it was shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions. But in contrast, these beneficiaries were eager to return to former face-to-face services as soon as possible.

These findings are relevant to both academic and practitioner audiences, as they highlight both benefits and limitations of digitalising services. The findings encourage nonprofit organisations to reflect upon how they respond to unexpected change (such as that caused by COVID-19) and to seriously consider the impact upon their beneficiaries and accountability relations.

What other research are you working on, and/or what do you hope to research next?

I am currently furthering my PhD findings in relation to beneficiaries’ participation in evaluation through conducting research within the Australian aged care sector. I am interviewing older people using aged care services and staff, to better understand their views on evaluation, and hopefully impact upon practice and policy refinement.

Dr. Kylie Kingston is a lecturer and early career researcher within the QUT School of Accountancy. Her research focuses on exploring ways to improve social and organisational conditions for marginalised people and stakeholder groups. Kylie integrates critical perspectives on accounting, accountability, evaluation, and participation, into organisational practices and policies. Kylie’s research is interdisciplinary and collaborative. She has a 20-year background working in diverse educational settings and engages in research that spans accounting, accountability, evaluation, ethics, and education.