Session: Shifting to Open Strategies - how you could apply this thinking and approach to your organisation

We need to think differently about how we strategise, plan and respond to the ever changing world. We want to be human-led, and make the constant change our advantage - creating structures and processes to harness it not to combat it. In this session we’ll explore what open strategy is. How the thinking, framework and principles can be  applied to our  planning and day to day execution of our organisational strategy.

Hear from Louise Lai and Louise Barton, who’ll share manifesto’s approach to open strategy and how they embedded this within UNICEF UK. Hear how UNICEF UK challenged themselves to lead the organisation better, and deliver more for children. In implementing this approach with the support of manifesto, its had a positive  impact on their people, culture,  how they plan, collaborate  and importantly  their impact and income. Key takeaways will include the principles and tools you can start applying  within your teams today. Spoiler alert - this kind of thinking can be used for more than just strategies.

Louise Lai (Session Two)

Louise Lai, is Chief Client and Transformation Officer at manifesto, an award-winning digital experience agency, specialising in the not-for-profit sector. They partner with not for profit organisations to create sustainable, inclusive, and impactful digital products, thinking and transformation that drives meaningful change.

Louise’s work involves partnering with their clients on lots of exciting digital and transformation projects. She  helps  non-profit leaders to navigate their challenges, harness digital, modern thinking and change in an effective and sustainable way.

She’s  worked in the social impact and purpose led transformation space for nearly two decades  working with a huge range of UK and Global charity organisations. From fundraising, marketing, brand, innovation, advocacy, strategy and products - she has truly diverse perspectives and experiences with changemaking organisations.

Over the last five years at manifesto she has delivered charity strategy and transformation. This has been through many lenses, digital, organisational-wide change, service design and delivery and engaging, supporting and inspiring audiences. And with incredible organisations like UNICEF, Breast Cancer Now,  Trussell Trust and Generation Global.

Alongside her role at manifesto, Louise is on the Board of Trustees at Blood Cancer UK and is the co-founder of FemMentored. A community that connects and supports women in the social impact sector, providing support, community and access to mentors. She’s built an active digital community of over 2000 women and supported 1250+ women with their mentoring programme since its launch in 2021.