A new Oxford guide to locking in purpose, sharing power and broadening ownership in your organization.

Is your purpose protected, or just stated? Who has a say in your organization, and who gets a stake?

Many movements, including employee ownership and B Corp certification, promise a different kind of business. But ownership doesn't automatically give employees a say or lock in a purpose, and certification alone doesn't address who has power or benefits from an organisation’s success.

Join the Skoll Centre (Saïd Business School) and Kellogg College's Centre on Mutual and Co-owned Business for the launch of a new report, What Is Your Organisation For?

It is a practical guide built on three questions:

Purpose lock-in: how hard would it be to drift from your mission?

Decision-making power: whose voice shapes big decisions?

Financial participation: who shares in the value you create?

Special guest panelists include Charlotte Tickle (Riverford Organics), Sam Boustred (Scott Bader), Achim Hensen (Purpose), and report co-author Mark Hand (Skoll Centre Visiting Fellow).

The report includes two short diagnostics that place your organisation among eight models, from shareholder-value firms to purpose-committed, all-stakeholder firms. You'll leave with next steps at four levels: mindset, culture, policy and structure.

Who should come: leaders of organisations asking themselves “What is this organization for?” and how to make their organization a force for good.

The Skoll Centre's Insights for Action seminar series explores how researchers and practitioners within and beyond Oxford are using research insights to drive social change.

Speakers

Mark Hand (https://www.linkedin.com/in/markchand/) is a political scientist at UT-Arlington whose work focuses on workplace democracy, shared ownership, and organisational design. He teaches, writes, and builds public-facing tools that bridge research and practice, including co-founding the Purpose Trust Ownershpi Network and editing The Stakehold, a weekly newsletter on the ownership economy.

Achim Hensen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/achim-hensen-54664758/) is Co-Founder of the PURPOSE Group, which coined the term steward-ownership and is dedicated to advancing the idea. Built around the PURPOSE Foundation, the group gives steward-ownership a global voice and works through consulting, investment, advocacy, and nonprofit initiatives. Its goal is to overcome the three major barriers companies face on their path to steward-ownership: limited awareness and knowledge, complex implementation, and lack of aligned capital. As a steward of PURPOSE Consulting and PURPOSE’s investment arm, Achim helps to address these challenges.

Charlotte Tickle (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottetickle/) has spent 18 years at Riverford Organic Farmers, based in the UK, serving as a Board Director and working across a wide range of roles. She now leads on Change, People & Culture, and Sustainability — ensuring Riverford stays true to its purpose. Charlotte led Riverford’s transition into Employee Ownership, first to a majority EOT in 2018 and then to 100% in 2023. She also supports other organisations on their EO journeys both as a Trustee and Non-Exec.

Sam Boustred (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samboustred/) is a Company Director and Chair of the Scott Bader Global Members’ Board. Sam is driven by the opportunity to expand employee ownership around the world, to develop, discover and disseminate best practice. A former EOA Board Member and currently supporting Employee Ownership opportunities in Sub Saharan Africa and India.

Moderator:

Professor Marya Besharov (https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/marya-besharov) is Professor of Organisations and Impact and Academic Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. Her research and teaching focus on leadership, social impact, and hybrid organisations. She engages with leaders and organisations worldwide to help them manage competing demands of social impact and financial performance. Marya received a BA in Social Studies, an MA in Sociology, and a PhD in Organisational Behaviour from Harvard University. She also holds an MBA from Stanford University.

Please note: the link to access the event online will be emailed to you on the day of the event.

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