In December we said a fond farewell to our Exec Director Laura Holmes, as she moved on to an exciting and challenging new full-time role. Laura applied her formidable organisational, analytical and strategic skills with thoughtfulness, tenacity, good humour.
Thank you Laura, for the systems you devised, the order you created, and the values you embodied. Not forgetting the next-level spreadsheet formulae, the music, and of course the cake! We’re very definitely missing you already.
These are the thoughts she left with us to share.
How do you evaluate the life of a General Manager*? Let me count the ways…
After 4 years with the company, I’ll be handing back my keys and my laptop and closing the door for one last time today. It’s been a uniquely challenging period for Third Angel. I joined just after their brilliantly ambitious performance Inherited Cities, a piece devised and co-created with more than 50 young Sheffielders, and before their hugely successful 3 week run of The Department of Distractions at the Crucible Studio at the start of 2019.
Much of the rest of that year was spent preparing for a national tour of The Department due to take place in March 2020… Having to cancel half of that tour was a crushing blow, but the impacts of the pandemic on our families, our loved ones and the sector, have been deeper and more wide-ranging than any of us could have imagined at that point. The reverberations are still being felt. Nevertheless, I’m super proud of how we have supported each other through these challenging times.
But for me personally, the other ingredient bubbling in the pot over the past couple of years has been my increasing awareness of the urgency and importance of addressing the interconnected issues of social justice and climate justice. When the opportunity arose to work with one of the organisations whose writing and thinking had been inspiring me (MAIA Group in Birmingham, you can read more about their approach here), it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
So how DO you evaluate the life of an Executive Director or General Manager?
· In business plans? In a period of unprecedented uncertainty, it felt like we were constantly being asked to write new business plans; an exercise of the imagination that stretched even the most creative members of the team. Maybe we’ve only written 4 in that time, but it felt like a LOT more!
· In funding applications? Since bringing the fundraising activity in-house in 2019, I’ve personally written 29 funding bids. 9 of these were successful, which approximated to around £40k in trusts and foundations support for our work with young people and community groups. A 30% success rate feels pretty good to me.
· In recruitment? In just four years, we’ve done seven different rounds of recruitment, resulting in five new staff (some on fixed term contracts so not all at the same time) and five new trustees. At one point at the end of 2021, we had eight staff members, the biggest the Third Angel team has ever been.
· In board papers? Looking at our files, we have created a whopping 656 Board papers in the 4 years since I joined! Allowing for duplicates, agendas and papers written by other members of the team, I think it’s likely I’ve written between 2-300 papers for our Board during that time. Phew!
Actually, the measure that I care about most doesn’t really lend itself to being counted. I’d love to be evaluated by how the team have felt about working for Third Angel during the time that I’ve been here. I guess you’d have to ask them…
*and latterly Executive Director
Well, as she asked: the team felt they were in safe, reliable, wise and friendly hands! We wish Laura the very best as she deploys her outstanding talents with MAIA Group, and look forward to watching them go from strength to strength.
