As we continue to process the wealth of insights and inspirations from the 2024 Social Human Equity (SHE) Conference, it's crucial to reflect on our learnings and plan our path forward to 2025 and beyond.
The conference, centered on the themes of listening, learning, and acting, has set a powerful framework for us to consider, "What is the next move?" Hopefully both the key learnings you gained from the conference, the Listen. Learn. Act (LLA) framework, and our reflections will help answer the question of what YOUR next move will be.
Lead by Listening
This year’s conference underscored the importance of leading by listening—an essential first step in understanding the diverse experiences and needs within the business world and society as a whole. Active listening forms the foundation of genuine empathy and understanding, which is crucial in the fight for social sustainability.
As we move forward, let's commit to creating an environment where all voices are heard and promoted, especially those that have been and still are marginalized. This means creating more spaces for open dialogue and ensuring that our leadership reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.
Grow by Learning
Every session at the conference was a reminder that our growth is perpetual and multifaceted. From workshops on AI, leadership, and diverse boards, to cross-sector panels discussing global collaboration, trends in impact investing, health equity, energy solutions, and much more - the opportunities to expand our knowledge were boundless.
Let us continue to educate ourselves and our teams, integrating this new knowledge into our daily operations and strategies. By staying informed and adaptable, we can better advocate for and implement policies that advance social sustainability.
Change by Acting
The call to action from the conference was clear: change comes through deliberate, informed action and self-reflection. This involves not just tweaking existing policies but questioning and sometimes overhauling systems to root out inequities and unconscious bias.
Our businesses are uniquely positioned to catalyze change. From this point of view, we can start by auditing our internal practices and policies to ensure they align with our commitment to social sustainability and long-term sustainable growth. Further, we can keep collaboration across sectors and organizations in order to create real impact.
The most important thing to remember is that change often begins within yourself, and that small changes you make can lead to great changes around you. This is the case both in your personal and work relationships.
What Is SHE’s Next Move?
It is important that the amazing energy and the connections made during the conference are not confined to this one day. Change cannot happen in a vacuum. The roadmap from the insights of the SHE Conference is our blueprint for action. Let's move forward with purpose and passion, knowing that our collective efforts can and will forge a better future.
An important bort of this is the application of the LLA framework, both before, during, and after the conference.
During SHE 2024, we implemented the LLA framework in our discussions and panels like this:
Listen: showcase what the audience should listen to in order to accumulate a better and genuine understanding - paving the way for collaborative, rather than divisive or competitive, approach to our panel topics.
Learn: active listening leads the transition into the learning phase, where openness and curiosity drive our dialogue. Here, we explore the lessons everyone have learned - both the successes and the failures. The aim is to share insights that can help us collectively build on the work of others and accelerate progress.
Act: then we focus on concrete actions using the insights gained from the Listen and Learn parts to suggest meaningful changes and initiatives regarding the topics discusses. This final step is about demonstrating how we can 'walk the talk' to enact impactful actions towards social sustainability, both in specific initiatives and in our daily thinking, relationships, and communication.
Our further actions include:
Measure impact for further learning and actions through:
In-depth evaluations with our partners and other collaborators.
Gathering and analyzing data from attendees.
Creating programs based on this feedback and other key learnings.
The continuation of the LLA framework through this year and 2025.
Sharing the key learnings from the conference with our community through our executive summary which will be made available soon.
What is YOUR next move?
How have you used the LLA framework as a tool since the conference two weeks ago? We are eager to hear from you, both in the comments and via post@sheconference.no.
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