The CEO of The Fore tells Pioneers Post’s Tim West that foundations and social investors must put judgement above process if they really want to help rather than hinder the development of our best social enterprise pioneers.
Gunn is CEO of an organisation called The Fore, a trust set up in 2017 to provide high potential charities and social enterprises with modest grants (up to £30k – based on research showing there was a gap in availability between £10k and £50k) and expert support to help them significantly increase their income, capacity and impact.
Success Story: Innovating Minds
Innovating Minds was set up in 2016 by Dr Asha Patel to provide accessible psychological support for disadvantaged young people within the school environment. Its recent impact report showed that high risk behaviour (eg assault, use of a weapon) decreased by 90% in the schools it worked with. It used The Fore’s grant to hire a Business Development Manager so it could meet demand for its services from new schools. One year along, it has expanded from supporting four schools to 45, and grown turnover from £80k to more than £300k.
Read the full interview here: https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20191009/the-pioneers-post-interview-mary-rose-gunn