21st century changemakers
are creative, resilient, agile
and transformative

image of a chameleon looking intently forwards

It's tough shaping social change. I focus on lean practises that elevate your impact without exhausting your energy and resources. Think of me as your co-pilot when time is scarce and focus is hard to maintain.

I’m Sarah Hughes

I have deep knowledge and know-how in social innovation, philanthropy, tech-for-good and impact investing, from a 30 year pathway in social change (excepting detours!).

Strategist

I work with social impact organizations to develop effective strategies that drive meaningful change. Good strategy identifies the key challenge to overcome, and actionable strategy keeps actions coherent and simple.

Co-Pilot

For leaders who need a trusted partner, I provide insight, support and hands-on graft, ensuring you can navigate challenges confidently. I can be far-sighted and near-sighted, whichever you need to get s**t done.

Community Shaper

I believe in the power of collaboration and have some solid experience of community craft. I help build vibrant spaces that foster connection, sharing, and mutual support among those working for social good.

My current focus is on enabling field-building and advocacy organizations dedicated to bringing positive change to the social sector. Together, we can create the infrastructure necessary for lasting impact.

If you’re ready to tackle things with a fresh perspective and a sprinkle of fun, let’s chat! You're leading change -- I will always have your back.

Let's talk!

Building our Social Impact Commons and a better, stronger shared society through smart, sector-owned solutions is what gets my motor running

I’m a seasoned change-maker who has founded two startups, served as a Chief Executive of a charity and designed many digital products . My approach is versatile and holistic. Think of me as your safe pair of hands—an empath, an entrepreneur, and a scientist all rolled into one.

If you're:

Scaling your social enterprise
Building resources for philanthropy and social impact
Streamlining operations in your charity
Developing new digital initiatives
Creating headroom for strategic vision

I provide the vital outside-in eyes, bolstered by pragmatic operational support to ensure none of the good bits slip through the cracks.

My hybrid career allows me to balance the tensions between purpose, profit and impact while having the empathy to understand that every social change journey is different.

Let's link up, er..

Are you a CV kind of person?

Learn more about my qualifications, experience, and skills by exploring my CV. Find out how my expertise can benefit your projects and goals.

Sarah's CV

I do not benefit from this link

I'm a lean impact advocate

Late in 2019, whilst closing the doors of my traveltech startup, I read 'Lean Impact - How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good' by Ann Mei Chang. It was instantly clear that I had found the nexus of my own experiences in the non profit, small business and startup worlds.

Lean impact is where startup principles meet social impact imperatives. As a people-focused approach, lean identifies where you are today and begins with what is already working. It then coaches you through cycles of continuous learning, measurement and improvement until your value and efficiency are at their best. The exciting part is when you also look at your long-term impact audaciously and work backwards from these radical ambitions.

If you are interested in learning more, I recommend Ann Mei's book. If you are short of time you could read my synopsis...

Social change is multi-layered. This makes finding the right solutions and innovating more complex than in other sectors. In a seemingly counter-intuitive way, Lean Impact brings forward practises that simplify and validate the path to maximum impact.

It allows ethical leaders to work backwards from a notion of the problem solved and iterate forwards through the most effective increments of social good. Vitally, this is done in close collaboration with beneficiaries and stakeholders so that all learning is validated and all failures are paths towards success. In Lean Impact we do more with less and we learn by doing, so we always have real-world experiments in play and we routinely test our assumptions to be sure that we are making verifiable progress on the problem. The call to action for Lean Impact is to start with an audacious goal, much like asking yourself the question "are we trying to empty the ocean with a spoon?" (Ann Mei Chang). It is a joy to work with.

The 3 principles that underpin Lean Impact are:

Think Big – set audacious goals and build an engine for growth that will move the needle relative to the size of the problem
Start Small – build the agility to run fast experiments and drive feedback loops that will accelerate your pace of learning and reduce waste of time and money
Relentlessly Pursue Impact – identify and track the metrics that matter to increase impact and scale