Stars aligned I suppose. I had previously helped run another forum – The Laikipa Wildlife Forum (LWF) which Segera, founding member of The Long Run, was part of. The Director of The Long Run Initiative (which was part of Segera’s Zeitz Foundation at the time) asked me for help on the external assessment of a LRI member. This was my intro to The Long Run. I was fascinated by the depth and breadth of the organisation, and its focus on tackling complex challenges such as biodiversity conservation in perpetuity and community development using business as a vehicle. At the time, The Long Run was looking for someone to develop the more technical aspect of the organisation. The rest, as they say, is history.
Having worked for more than 20 years in the NGO sector prior to joining The Long Run, figuring out how to distill and integrate due diligence, best practice, and embed holistic approaches in a practical and relevant scale for a small business to drive positive change was a big challenge. For this, the framework of The Long Run known as the 4Cs (conservation, community, culture and commerce) was a great asset. Global cross pollination, and working with a community of passionate members unified behind a common goal and ready to push boundaries was (and is) thrilling!