Panellist at the recent Bayes Alumni Forum and currently CEO of Magic Breakfast, a national charity tackling morning hunger for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, Lindsey MacDonald has been community-minded from an early age. The decision to work with and learn from classmates from entirely different sectors via the Bayes Executive MBA has taken her leadership and innovation skills to a new level within the charity sector.
From what background did you arrive at Bayes?
“I was born in the UK but raised in rural Canada by a very civically inclined family. The community was very small and close-knit, where you had a great tradition for and understanding of charitable work but not in the professionalised and structured way as we have here in the UK. I’d get involved in grassroots volunteering, often via sporting activities, and then once I went to university I realised that you could actually do things for society and social benefit while making a career out of it. Once I had finished my undergrad studies I was committed to moving to the UK and trying out London for a year or so. 19 years later and I’m still here!”
How did your career within charitable organisations evolve?
“I’ve always worked in the charity sector, starting out in International Development and then in positions where sport is leveraged to help causes such as homelessness and social exclusion. I was also struck by the impact the financial crash of 2008 had on many people living in the London area, so that further strengthened my resolve to continue working in the charity sector. In all of this, I’ve managed to combine a personal passion with a desire to forge a certain career, but not with a view to climbing the hierarchical ladder. My career has evolved in terms of the seniority of the positions I’ve held, but the key drivers have always been the desire to help others while continually learning myself, hence why I studied for a PhD in Sociology (Sport for Development and Peace) over the period 2011-15 and then arrived at Bayes in 2016 to take the Executive MBA.”
What were the motivations behind the Executive MBA?
“My vision was clear – I already benefitted from the wisdom and great work of so many people within the charity sector but wanted to learn more from different sectors, different organisations, and different working cultures. I consciously chose a programme that wasn’t charity-sector focused, to the point that I even checked in advance that there wouldn’t be too many participants in the programme from the same working background as mine as I was actively seeking to learn from and bounce off of people with different mindsets and mental models of how the world works.”
Why Bayes as the destination for this next step?
“At the time, Bayes offered really clear personal development and also the kind of leadership programme that could be opted into and drawn from. I was especially interested in issues relating to employability, so learning how I could get young people into education, training and work was of particular relevance. I also really liked the fact that Bayes seemed to understand students of the programme – they identify the knowledge you need to be equipped with and also understand you as an individual and as a leader.”
How would you describe the learning experience while on the Executive MBA?
“I was in a cohort with brilliant and diverse classmates, working on all kinds of case studies and group projects, increasing my self-awareness every step of the way. This immersive and holistic process challenged me as a leader, how I would deploy tools and skills, and how I would operate back in the charity sector to create the maximum value and impact. So, in short, the overarching takeaway was to transform the kind of leadership with which I arrived on the EMBA. I remember my colleagues at Street League (where I was working at the time), once I’d finished one of the weekend study periods, bracing themselves for my return not sure which of the key learnings from that module I would want to try out that week! I had real backing and support from my colleagues at work and a scholarship from Bayes, so I’ll never forget how these factors made it possible for me to develop and then apply my learnings in as valuable and impactful a way possible.”
How did you arrive at Magic Breakfast?
“I arrived there in the role of CEO late-2021. I found the organisation clear and compelling, one that corresponded with my previous experience and that had identified what still needed to be done to combat so many children going to school hungry, with the proven negative impact it can have on their learning. By ensuring a breakfast service, we help these children and young people to gain as much as two months of learning in a year (known as the “attainment gap”) as it puts them in the right conditions to attack their school day. Without such a service, a young person who has just completed their secondary school studies risks being up to 19 months behind. This is not to cast aspersions upon their academic ability – it’s a result of the conditions in which they are brought up, be it poverty, accommodation, the fact some are having to act as carers for other family members etc. All of this creates barriers to opportunities further on down the line…”
What challenges have you had to tackle in this role and organisation?
“To my mind, we don’t talk often enough in the charity sector about our failings. In the vast majority of walks of life, it’s from your errors that you learn the most and then go on to innovate by having the courage to try new things and solve problems in a sustainable way. We like to recount human impact stories from the work we do, and rightly so, but one of the key challenges is to identify the correct sources of funding and spend it wisely to continue being able to tell those stories. There isn’t a bottomless well of cash, so effective fund raising and then spending is a big part of what we do, especially against the recent backdrop of rises in National Insurance, the conflict in the Ukraine, fuel inflation and rising food prices. These all impact our business as demand has soared.”
Have you had to adapt your modus operandi?
“We’ve tried to adopt the mindset of continuous improvement. We’ve been successful and are currently creating access to breakfasts for more than 300,000 children and young people per day across England and Scotland, but there’s no resting on our laurels. We’ve devised The Magic Menu, providing essentially different food categories to our partner schools to increase the choice and variety for young people whilst acknowledging that some food products don’t land well with children, or maybe they’re less straightforward and easy to operationalise in a school setting. Any such innovation carries a degree of risk, but we see it as an opportunity to provide a more adapted, more nutritional offer that is operationally feasible.”
What advice would you give to someone considering a similar path to yours?
“Remain curious and take every opportunity to learn, and you’ll raise your chances of finding a path that you’ll enjoy and succeed in. My journey was driven by finding a niche for myself that I was interested in and wanted to learn more about. By maintaining this openness to further learning, you’ll boost your chances of forging the career path that’s for you. I am incredibly privileged to work in a job I love with brilliant and inspiring colleagues, schools, and partners. I can’t recommend strongly enough retaining the humility to learn from others, the courage to challenge yourself as I did via the Bayes Executive MBA, and the ability to draw the positives from your own mistakes while continuing to innovate.”
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Useful links
https://www.facebook.com/magicbreakfastuk
https://www.instagram.com/magicbreakfast_uk