Thames Estuary Growth Board’s Post

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Upwardly Global’s public board meeting on “Revitalizing Communities Through Workforce Partnerships” featuring: Jeremy Robbins, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council; Steve Tobocman, Executive Director of Global Detroit; Zachary Osolo, Assistant Manager at Interfaith Works of Central New York; and Tammi Ling, Upwardly Global Board Chair The conversation centered on how Upwardly Global and partners are building the business and advancing #immigrants into skill-aligned work in order to drive local economic growth, helping revitalize communities all around the country. We also delved into how we can deepen these partnerships and advance policies that are embedded in local communities’ needs. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of progress and momentum on reforms at the local level to eliminate red tape for internationally trained doctors so they can get back into their field to support communities that desperately need this talent. Last year, Illinois passed groundbreaking legislation with the support of Upwardly Global and other organizations and partners on the ground. Similar efforts are currently underway in Virginia, where the local legislature has also passed a bill currently awaiting for the Governor’s signature, as well as in many other states around the country. If you missed it, you can now watch it online! Learn about our innovative and successful workforce inclusion model, transformative partnerships, and impact. #EconomicInclusion #EconomicGrowth #CommunityRevitalization

Thanks for including us in this discussion - Healey-Driscoll Administration Meets with Business Leaders to Address Housing Challenges - learn more and find out what our chamber president had to say on this topic: https://lnkd.in/edZ6rVp4

Today's generation of young people are growing up in a truly digital world. They deserve a seat at the table, to make their perspectives on privacy and information access heard. In January 2023, the IPC assembled a Youth Advisory Council, bringing together young people with diverse backgrounds from across the province. Take a look at our 2023 annual report to learn how they're helping to shape Ontario's digital future. https://ow.ly/GaXe50SecUO

The ultimate community for building the right economy for our changing times (which is the real value of "wealth") is the Mid-Century Modern social innovation of the social trust for Workforce Pensions as an evolutionary adaptation of the 19th Century social innovation of social trusts for Civil Society Endowments. This is a true 21st Century planetary commons that is constituted by the laws of its creation with the aim of investing money in financing for enterprise for income as well as safety to assure income security, in a dignified retirement for evergreen populations of current and future retired workers, in the case of Pensions, and for mission, in the case of Endowments, as a private benefit for some, directly, that is also a public good for us all, consequently. These social trusts are also constituted by the laws of their creation with the character of vast size (they control millions to billions to tens of billions to hundreds of billions, individually, aggregated into the tens of trillions, collectively, worldwide), programmatic purpose (their aim is to invest money for income as well as safety to assure security and dignity forever) and forever time (they just keep going, across the generations). The prudent stewards of these social trusts derive from this character, under the circumstances prevailing since 1983, the capacity to use the technologies of spreadsheet math, desktop publishing and digital communication to negotiate with enterprise of any size, in any business, anywhere on the planet. We can also see, if we take the time and make the effort to look, that Private Equity exercises this capacity, which they acquire from the Pensions & Endowments who finance their activities, almost exclusively, to financially engineer profit extraction through a process the market as "value creation". What we can and should be teaching ourselves to see, is that the actual stewards of these social trusts can also exercise this capacity, themselves, directly, to financially engineer socially beneficial cash flows through negotiated agreements on equity paybacks to an actuarial/fiduciary cost of money, plus opportunistic upside, from enterprise cash flows prioritized by contract for suitability, longevity and fairness in how the business does business. And we also can and should be teaching ourselves to see that these stewards of security and dignity in the right economy are accountable to us, to our common sense as reasonable people familiar with such matters as aims character, capacity and circumstances, for their exercise of discretionary control within the constraints of prudence in the exercise of their capacity, derived from their character, in undivided loyalty to their aims, as constituted by the laws of their creation.

This is the type of “think tank” needed around environmental equity . . . reimagining underserved communities through an ecosystem of thought leaders, inclusive capital, and systems thinking.

The panel discussion with MPs Perran Moon (Labour, Camborne and Redruth), Sarah Dyke (Lib Dem, Glastonbury and Somerton) and Steve Race (Lab, Exeter) was for me the most interesting part of Friday's excellent Great South West annual conference at Sandy Park. All relatively recently elected, they spoke with energy and without the weariness that sometimes comes with conversations about the challenges and opportunities facing our region, which are very well known to all who live and work here. They represent different parts of the patch, urban, rural and in between; growing and grappling with deprivation. While we debate whether we can - or even should - be the next Nortern Powerhouse, they're quickly finding out what's needed locally now. A 'one size fits all' approach won't work for them, they said. I asked what 'success' would look like for each of them by this time next year. Their answers illustrated the range and diversity of the challenges they face. Reducing the rate of male suicide; providing affordable housing; helping local businesses grow sustainably; developing trading relationships; sorting out rural transport all featured. These sit alongside the ever-present challenges, around connectivity, skills and climate. And the importance of a narrative for the region that's 'more than worthy' (Nick Walkley) and turns heads towards us. I've written at least two of these for different purposes in the past decade, and know we have plently of good material to draw on.* An emerging Independent Economic Review, shared on Friday, could provide fresh impetus on this. From experience, the really hard part (always) is sticking with it once the narrative work is done. That's where our MPs, business and community leaders have such an important role to play. As a business based in the heart of this region, we're up for playing our part to address the challenge at Distinctive Communications Ltd. I hope when we come together in a year's time, we'll hear about progress towards making our region of 1.4m people the best it can be. Thanks to the team for organising the session. I left feeling energised, if a little apprehensive about getting back to Somerset on the M5! Great to see familiar faces Andrew Cockcroft, Arianne Smart, Bill Revans, Corinne Matthews, Chris Ward, David Eccles CBE, Drew Aspinwall, Karl Tucker, Freddie Palmer, Julia Goldsworthy, Paul Britton, Paul Read, Peter Koch. Richard Marsh, Tessa Munt, Tim Western. I've placed a link to the summary of Great South West Independent Economic Review in the comments. Image: From left to right: Daisy McAndrew (event host) and South West MPs Perran Moon, Sarah Dyke and Steve Race. * If anyone's interested in chatting about what I learned doing this, or would like to know more about the output, get in touch.

New Look: Same unstoppable vision! We're thrilled to unveil our rebrand, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you! When we embarked on this journey (over 8 months ago now!), a few key AisB characteristics guided our transformation: ✨ Engaging: Everything we do is guided by our mission to get you(th) excited about getting involved! 💡 Inspiring: We want you to feel inspired to take action and make a real difference, believing in your ability to create change. 🤝 Authentic: We are committed to being genuine and true to our values and mission. 🌟 Positive: We’re all about spreading optimism and hope for a brighter, more inclusive future. 🚀 Dynamic:  Just like Canadian youth, our brand is alive, evolving, and ready to move with the times, adapting to new challenges, realities and opportunities. Ready to see it in action? Dive into our brand new website: www.apathyisboring.com Check out our IG: https://lnkd.in/eCGvMHcb #AisB #ApathyisBoring

📅 Register now for our webinar: Achieving inclusive local growth – the role of District and Borough Councils. While the role of Mayoral Combined Authorities continues to attract the most attention, both District and Borough councils are crucially important to ensuring that local growth is inclusive, sustainable and designed to address place-based challenges that have often existed for generations. This free webinar will be chaired by Mutual Ventures Chief Executive Andrew Laird and will feature expert input from: ➜ Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director Planning, Regeneration and Communities, West Lindsey District Council ➜ Gill Callingham, former Director of Growth, North East Derbyshire District Council ➜ Mark Bandalli, Managing Consultant, Mutual Ventures Our expert panel will explore: - The role of District and Borough councils in achieving local growth - Spheres of influence: direct control, partnering, influencing and showcasing - How to ensure that growth is both inclusive and sustainable - The importance of collaboration and partnerships - The role of elected members - Aligning priorities at a local and combined authority level Register here: https://buff.ly/3A2aSIP #InclusiveGrowth #LocalAuthorities

WATCH ON DEMAND: Missed our recent CROSSROADS virtual events? Never fear – recordings of each panel discussion, expertly moderated by world-renown advisor, author and urbanist Prof Greg Clark CBE FAcSS are now available for on-demand viewing: https://lnkd.in/e2P3b3tQ Timed with the launch of CROSSROADS – a comprehensive survey of more than 10,000 people across 10 countries – these virtual events brought together diverse panellists from around the world to unpack the challenge of promoting fair and fit-for-purpose infrastructure, from one generation to the next.   CROSSROADS presents a fascinating snapshot of community sentiment – including multi-generational preferences, priorities and perspectives – through an infrastructure lens. The key findings from this wide-ranging study set the scene for a series of engaging panel discussions exploring how we can make the right decisions today, to help chart a course to a more equitable infrastructure future, tomorrow.   Discover our panellists’ value-adding insights here: https://lnkd.in/e2P3b3tQ   #CROSSROADS #FutureCommunities #PowerofCommitment

This is so important - the approach here is human centred not department / organisational focused - they are doing incredible things by meeting people’s needs - the things that matter to people , not always the same as that which gets measured! Finally it’s more cost effective and means practitioners take accountability for their actions - rather than assessing and referring on …. What’s not to love; adopt and celebrate !!!! #liberatedmethod