Julia Hailes and I at the 25th anniversary party for SustainAbility, in front of part of London’s Roman Wall.
In front of posters of Rupert Bassett’s covers for our publication Radar, in the Bedford Row, London, office.
When Julia Hailes and I co-founded SustainAbility in 1987, with early help from Tom Burke, we literally spent years spelling the name to people–who had never heard the word before. At some level, then, we could have declared victory in 2012, the year SustainAbility celebrated its 25th anniversary, since the word seems to be virtually ubiquitous. But my sense is that the game is only just beginning.
Late in 2014, I was given a life sentence by SustainAbility: Honorary Chairman until I drop off my perch. #Delighted.
An early photo when SustainAbility was based at The People’s Hall (showing, left to right, Vernon, me, Melissa, Julia, Emma, Amanda and Annie)
A team shot, several years back, though by now not showing everyone. I’m the only continuing element.
Meanwhile, by way of an update, having left to co-found Volans in 2008, I remained a non-executive director of SustainAbility until 2014 when I stepped down from the Board, after almost 27 years, to encourage a new generation to take full charge. But I remain a major shareholder—and feel a massive continuing responsibility for the organisation and its evolving agenda.
Looking back, it really has been a remarkable ride—and, in retrospect, this small (largely by design) organization had a quite disproportionate impact on the global agenda. I am immensely proud to have been involved and thank all the colleagues I have worked with since 1987, many of whom remain good friends.
The photos below are a few from the relevant page of the previous version of this website:
Conversations: One of the best things I ever did at SustainAbility was to form the Council, initially to keep Julia (Hailes) in the frame when she stood down as a Director—then, later, the Faculty. For me, this shot of a break during a meeting of the SustainAbility core team and Council at the Royal Society of Arts caught one of the organisation’s great strengths—the parallel, intertwined conversation. On the right, the late, great Sir Geoffrey Chandler.
Geoff (Lye) and I: He put SustainAbility on a sound business footing, I read the magazines.
Succession: Sophia (Tickell) took over from me as SustainAbility’s Chair in 2005 and Mark (Lee) became CEO—part of our plans for succession. My sincere thanks to them both for enabling both the launch of Volans and the further evolution of SustainAbility.