Jenny Berry, senior support advisor:
For me, the highlight in my everyday work is listening, talking with, and supporting our members.
The bigger highlights this year has been meetings with the ACEVO team, especially getting to the away-day a few months ago where it was good to meet a couple of newer colleagues in person. So special.
And then more recently the member support team met up in person. Just the three of us who have worked together for at least 18 months, speak daily etc – but hadn’t managed to meet in person in all of that time for a number of reasons. It was a full on planning day, we covered so much – but the joy of being together in our mini team was threaded through our conversations through the day.
Thanks ACEVO team for being so great.
Rachel Shirley, events, programmes and activities lead:
Coming to work at ACEVO has been one of the biggest highlights of 2024 for me – I feel very lucky to have joined such a caring and supportive team. Since I started in June, I’ve particularly enjoyed working with the team to plan and launch next year’s ACEVOFest programme – I’m really excited by the line-up of speakers we’ve secured for my first ACEVO conference. Getting stuck into planning the 2025-26 events programme has also been a joy, seeing ideas become reality with guest speakers and trainers who I believe have so much to offer our members. I’ve also loved seeing members make connections with each other at events – I feel privileged to witness so many lightbulb moments and realisations that “it’s not just me”.
Shareen Patel, policy and influencing officer:
A highlight of 2024 for me was ACEVO’s first-ever Climate Week. It took months of planning, with Heloisa and I going back and forth trying to secure speakers and setting out the agenda for the week in attempt to make it as diverse as possible. We ended up with really great speakers and the content that came out of the week was insightful and thought-provoking. What I really liked was the fact that people and other organisations used Climate Week to promote their own climate initiatives, without us asking them to do so. We also held ACEVO’s first LinkedIn Live as part of the week and that was one of the most engaged events and a success. Another highlight was attending a meeting with the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy alongside Jane, our CEO. This was the first Secretary of State meeting in my career and something I will remember!
Heloisa Righetto, comms and content lead:
As Shareen mentioned, Climate Week was quite special. We discuss the climate crisis a lot and are constantly trying to find ways to get our members involved. So, preparing for the week and watching our ideas come to life was very rewarding.
Another big thing that happened this year was that we decided ACEVO should no longer be on Twitter/X. I know it can sound a bit weird to mention this as a highlight of my year – but how could it not be? As the ACEVO comms person, I spent a lot of time crafting content for Twitter for many, many years. I am so proud of all the things we did there: we hosted takeovers, we published the weekly #ACEVOrecommends thread (which is now a monthly blog), and had a lot of fun using animated GIFs. However, I’m also proud that we knew the time had come to step away from it. Jane talked about it in a podcast episode.
We have recently joined Bluesky – but are still developing a strategy for our presence there, and we have no expectations for it to be a replacement for Twitter. Let’s see how it goes!
Carla Robinson, senior membership officer:
Reflecting on my time at ACEVO, it’s incredible to think how much has happened in just two short months since I joined in early October. Despite my brief time here, it already feels like home, thanks to the warmth and kindness of the team. From day one, I’ve been struck by the supportive and collaborative spirit of the team, and I’m genuinely grateful for how seamlessly I’ve been welcomed into the fold.
A standout moment for me was attending the team away day before my official start date. Walking into a room full of people I hadn’t yet worked with could have been daunting, but instead, it was energizing. The team’s openness, enthusiasm, and encouragement instantly reassured me that I was joining something special. That day sparked a sense of excitement and confidence that hast stayed with me ever since.
This year has been a significant one for me personally, as I returned from maternity leave and navigated the challenge of balancing work and motherhood. It wasn’t always easy, but since joining ACEVO, such a compassionate and understanding team, has given me the strength and motivation I needed. As the year comes to a close, I’m incredibly thankful to part of the ACEVO family and excited for what’s to come in the new year!
Gareth Oughton, member services manager:
2024 has been a huge year of change for my family – thanks largely to a protracted relocation and the stresses and strains of nursery availability for two under the age of four. My ACEVO family have been a constant source of joy and support throughout this time however. Particular professional highlights from the past year have included bedding in the first stages of our new leadership development program, enormously invigorating away-days with both the events and support teams to plot/plan our vision for a future that serves members in bigger and bolder ways than we do at present and kickstarting the renewal of a particular pet project that should see the light of day around Easter time. All very exciting and leaving me full of hope and optimism as we start concluding our 2024 and looking ahead to 2025.
Rahela Hussain, finance manager:
It’s my second year working for ACEVO, and still feeling the love for it and all that it does in its different shapes and forms. The highlight of the year for me was our recruitment drive and seeing how good we are at talent management and recruiting new members of the team. This was truly apparent at our annual festive lunch as there was so much genuine love, fun and laughter at the table. ACEVO gets organisational culture right!
Roberta Fusco, head of influencing:
It’s been a good year at ACEVO and I have many highlights, especially the care and love extended to me by the board and the team when I had to take a period of compassionate leave. What’s better than knowing that your work colleagues ‘have your back’ at the hardest times? But I can’t let the opportunity pass me by without saying how proud I am of the whole Home Truths 2 team who have worked very hard to push the outward facing elements of the programme to the world this past year. Launching the Further Faster cohort was a really big moment, which made the years (yes, we know these things take years…) spent planning and preparing all worthwhile to see it become real. The progress of the corresponding Race Equity Series is another major highlight and to see the impact start to ripple is not just exciting but so very necessary.
Natasha Davies-Strickleton, data and digital lead:
In my first full year at ACEVO, it has been exciting, challenging and fulfilling in equal measures. I have worked across all teams with one focus in mind- to improve functions for staff and members. Looking back, it has been the small, everyday wins that have been the most rewarding and validating. Working with such supportive and driven colleagues is inspiring and I am excited for what we can achieve in the next 12 months.
Lauren Slack, membership administrator:
2024 has brought some changes for our membership team, in the form of saying goodbye to a lovely colleague and friend and getting to say hello to a lovely new colleague (and friend!). While the changes have brought about many learning curves, I have to say I am really proud of the way I have been able to take on new tasks and navigate the challenges, pushing myself and learning new skills at the same time. Each day, I learn something new, however small, and this grows my confidence daily in my ability to carry out my role. I must also say that all of this could absolutely never have happened without the outstanding support of my membership team colleagues and of course the who ACEVO family.
Tom Andrews, senior support advisor:
The year feels a bit of a blur. As always, the aspect that gives me the most fulfilment is the one-to-one conversations with members. Even in tough times, the chance to together create a safe space for sharing and support is special. Other highlights are my own post graduate university study focused on the science and art of listening, and recently getting together with my colleagues Gareth and Jenny face to face. What a joy to have the space to connect, plan and chew over aspects of our work and how we will move forward together.
Jane Ide, chief executive:
I started 2024 knowing that I had three big mountains to climb this year: the recruitment of our new chair (always a nerve wracking time for any CEO), the development of our new strategy ready for implementation in April 2025, and the inevitable general election that we knew was coming at some point and that would have direct consequences for our members and the sector whichever way it went.
It turned out that each of those mountains ended up giving me my three biggest highlights also.
The day I had lunch with Mark Norbury at the very end of our chair appointment process and came away feeling confident that we would work well together (and just as importantly, would get along well together, because he made me laugh).
The day we shared our draft strategy with our members (and immediately started to get positive and constructive feedback).
And the day I stood in Number 10 along with 150 other sector leaders and heard our new prime minister speak with commitment about his determination that civil society should be seen as a key partner in the work of government in the months and years to come. Even though not everything in the political environment has been rosy since the new government arrived (the budget announcement on employer National Insurance contributions has created a wave of challenge that I know many of our members are finding incredibly hard to navigate on top of every other recent challenge) that acknowledgment from the very highest level of government is of crucial importance as we and our colleagues in other sector bodies seek to reset the relationship between government and civil society after many years of it falling into disrepair.
As always, there is also a myriad of small moments throughout the year that I treasure – the satisfaction and fun I gain from working with the most brilliant team of people I could ask for; the pleasure of meeting members whether over a coffee or at an event; and the support of our board that helps me be the best CEO I can be.
I’d like to say there will be fewer mountains to climb in 2025 … I suspect that won’t be the case, but they will be different ones, and I have my boots and my crampons at the ready.