Ep4 – Adeela Warley, Chief Executive of CharityComms

Today we talk to Adeela Warley, Chief Executive of CharityComms, the membership organisation for charity communications professionals in UK Charities. She is also a member of ACEVO, The Marketing Society and Fellow of the RSA.

Host Joe Jenkins first met Adeela a decade ago when he joined Friends of the Earth, where Adeela worked for over 20 years and they’ve been firm friends ever since. Adeela left her role as Head of Communications at FoE in early 2017 to take on the leadership of CharityComms.

In the conversation, we hear Adeela sharing how she is coping with the challenge of TOO much on her mind!  As well as communications in a time of crisis and why we shouldn’t believe, or be too intimidated by, everything you read in leadership books.

Adeela reflects on the last 3.5 years as a first-time CEO, why mentors and peers are so crucial, her strengths as a cautious leader, learning to be more honest and being unafraid to seek help.

Looking to the future, Adeela is feeling positive about women leaders, sector collaboration and believes that at this time, more than ever, communication is the life-blood of charities wanting to change the world.

Date of Conversation – 24 July

The Key Takeaways From This Episode

[2.10] Interview Begins
[3.50] Charity Communicators in a time of crisis
[7.17] From overdrive to structure and discipline during Covid
[10.34] Understanding your charity eco-system, CEO mentors and peers
[13.44] The motivations to become CEO of Charity Comms
[17.37] Transition from leading a department to leading an organisation
[24.05] Being honest about your vulnerabilities
[23.17] Being seen and heard in leadership
[32.10] Being a sector leader
[37.31] Working in coalition
[44.18] Why Communications can BE the change
[45.05] Leadership can be learned but you need motivation and opportunity
[48.52] Being a cautious leader, learning to be more honest and seek help
[51.10] How the creativity and liberation of working remotely has brought the team together
[54.12] The future of Charity Comms
[56.24] Keep an eye on the prize – what are we here for
[58.07] How human resilience and support can give us hope

Resources From This Episode

• CharityComms – charitycomms.org.uk
• The CharityComms Re-launched Podcast
• Adeela’s Third Sector Articles
• Small Charities Commission – smallcharities.org.uk
• ACEVO – acevo.org.uk
• NAVCA – navca.org.uk
• Directory of Social Change – dsc.org.uk
• The Frameworks institute – frameworksinstitute.org
• Amy Cuddy Power Stance on YouTube
• The Marketing Society – marketingsociety.com
• RSA Fellowship – thersa.org/fellowship