Common Purpose is a British-founded charity that runs leadership-development programmes around the world.
Common Purpose UK is a subsidiary of Common Purpose.
Founded in 1989 by
Julia Middleton,
its aim is to develop leaders who cross boundaries so they can solve complex problems in work and in society.
Adirupa Sengupta was appointed as Group CEO in 2019.
As of 2015 Common Purpose ran local programmes for leaders in cities across the world, and its global programmes bring together leaders from over 100 countries across six continents. As of 2019, 85,000 leaders worldwide have taken part in Common Purpose programmes.
Activities
Courses
Common Purpose works with a wide range of organisations and individuals across the business, public and NGO sectors.
As of 2019, 85,000 leaders have taken part in Common Purpose programmes.
Education and young people
Common Purpose works with universities to run programmes for students to develop global leadership skills. As of 2019, 8,000 students completed Common Purpose programmes each year. They also run free leadership programmes for 18-25 year olds in the US, Singapore, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Germany and the UK as part of their Legacy campaign.
In 2021, Common Purpose partnered with
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
to launch an online course designed for students to increase their employability skills.
Senior executives
What Next? was a 2010 course run by leadership development organisation Common Purpose and the
Said Business School to help redundant executives identify opportunities to continue to use the experience they have accumulated during their careers.
Between 2013 and 2019, Common Purpose partnered with the
Commonwealth Study Conference
The first Commonwealth Study Conference held in Oxford, United Kingdom in 1956 to study the human aspects of industrial issues across Commonwealth countries. The founder of the conference, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, described it as "an extra ...
to run CSCLeaders, an annual global leadership programme for 100 exceptional senior leaders selected from governments, businesses and NGOs across the 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
Leadership campaigns
In July 2009 Common Purpose was commissioned by the
Government Equalities Office to conduct an online survey of individuals in leadership positions, and produce a report entitled "Diversity of Representation in Public Appointments". Subsequently, Common Purpose and the
Government Equalities Office set up The About Time Public Leaders Courses, designed to support the government's aim to increase the diversity of public-body board members and the pool of talented individuals ready to take up public appointments. The schemes were formally launched in January 2010. In January 2010, Common Purpose Chief Executive,
Julia Middleton, published interviews with 12 leaders from the private, public and voluntary sectors, including
Sir David Bell David Bell may refer to:
Academia
* David Bell (university administrator) (born 1959), Scottish academic administrator and civil servant
* David Bell (philosopher) (born 1947), British philosopher
* David Bell (artist) (1915–1959), British curat ...
and
Dame Suzi Leather about the qualities needed for good leadership in challenging times.
Projects
In July 2008 Common Purpose introduced a project in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
, India, which took 50 people from different sectors, e.g. IT and banking, and encouraged them to share local and international knowledge in order to solve problems associated with trading in a recession. It has also run projects in Germany, to highlight the importance of having good facilities for the
disabled
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...
.
Press coverage
In May 2008 the ''
Yorkshire Post
''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...
'' revealed that Common Purpose had been granted free office space at the
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was replac ...
in Sheffield in 1997.
A DCSF spokeswoman said the free office accommodation had been given in line with the policy of the then Education Secretary
David Blunkett
David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...
, a Sheffield MP, who had wanted to build better links with the local community. But
Philip Davies
Philip Andrew Davies (born 5 January 1972) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley in West Yorkshire since the 2005 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he is the most rebellious se ...
, Conservative MP for Shipley, criticised the relationship between Government and Common Purpose as well as the fact it did not put the content of its training in the public domain.
In January 2009 ''Third Sector'' magazine reported that Common Purpose was to face no further action from the
Information Commissioner's Office
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is the independe ...
. The announcement came following the ICO's ruling in October 2008 that the charity was unlikely to have complied with the provisions in the
Data Protection Act on processing personal data when it compiled a list containing the personal details of people who had made what it (CP) contended were "
vexatious" requests under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 relating to its dealings with public authorities.
Leveson Inquiry controversy
A number of UK national newspapers ran stories implying that Common Purpose had exerted improper influence over the
Leveson Inquiry, in the days preceding publication of its report. These stories centred on the role of Inquiry member
Sir David Bell David Bell may refer to:
Academia
* David Bell (university administrator) (born 1959), Scottish academic administrator and civil servant
* David Bell (philosopher) (born 1947), British philosopher
* David Bell (artist) (1915–1959), British curat ...
, who was both a trustee of Common Purpose, and had set up the
Media Standards Trust
The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered cha ...
(a lobbying group which presented evidence to the Inquiry) together with Julia Middleton. Moreover, the Media Standards Trust set up and provided funding for the lobbying group
Hacked Off, which also presented evidence to the Inquiry. Bell resigned from the Media Standards Trust when he was appointed a member of the Inquiry. On 25 November, ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' too published a comment piece on CPUK, noting that the Rotherham Director of Children's Services, Joyce Thacker, heavily criticised in the
Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal
The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal consisted of the organised child sexual abuse that occurred in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Northern England from the late 1980s until the 2010s and the failure of local authorities to a ...
, was a member of CPUK, and noting that Common Purpose had been described as "
secretive
Fabian organisation
hellip; thathas been described as a Left-wing version of the Freemasons."
Writing in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'',
Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...
described the ''Mail'' coverage of Common Purpose in general, and the central focus on Sir David Bell in particular, as "a classic example of conspiracist innuendo" and went on that "through a series of leaps of logic and phoney 'revelations' of Bell's publicly acknowledged positions, the articles persistently insinuate that he has been up to no good." This opinion was shared in an article in the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' by
Peter Wilby. Also in ''The Guardian'',
Michael White acknowledged that, "anti-establishment bodies should be as much fair game for accountability as those of the old establishment", but said: "I couldn't help thinking as I read it that the analysis itself is a bit of a conspiracy. Delete 'Common Purpose' throughout and insert 'Jew', 'Etonian' or 'Freemason' and you'd rightly feel uneasy."
References
Further reading
Move outside your comfort zone - Guardian.co.ukThe Wealth of ExperienceThe Guardian, 16 April 2008 (Article by Julia Middleton)
The Financial Times, 17 March 2008 (Comments by Julia Middleton)
Personnel Today 'Work Clinic' (Research by Common Purpose and comments by Julia Middleton)
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Purpose Uk
Charities based in London
Personal development
Organizations established in 1989
1989 establishments in the United Kingdom
Private companies limited by guarantee of England