My name is Esther Hamilton...
My name is Esther Hamilton and I set up Social Innovation Solutions Ltd to help non-profits making a difference in the world and in their communities, by offering expertise in strategy, fundraising and programme development. I provide consultancy and mentoring to charities and non-profit leaders and training for everyone from CEOs to those looking to break into the charity sector.
I have spent over 20 years of my career working in the charity sector with organisations that promote social justice and bring about positive change with and alongside the communities they serve.
My experience encompasses everything from working in grass-roots and large international organisations in post-conflict Kosovo, international NGOs working around the world, to national and local charities in the UK. From leading an award-winning NGO that worked in 22 different countries and raising a £6.7 million multi-year grant, to supporting start-up non-profits in the UK and US to raise their first funds and start their very first projects, I have a unique perspective of what it takes to run a successful charity and really make an impact. Simply put, whether you are a Iarge and established charity, a start-up CIC, or anything in the middle, I bring the experience and perspective to help you get through the challenges your organisation is facing, so that you can focus on supporting the people you serve.
Why Social Innovation Solutions was established
The last few years have been challenging for many charities. Social Innovation Solutions came about because I was approached by a charity who needed an injection of fundraising expertise, but like many non-profits, they were not in a position to take on a staff member, with the associated long-term costs, so they asked me to set up my company. I could see that there was a real need for organisations to get access to expertise on fundraising, organisational strategy, programme development and monitoring and evaluation and this way of working, allows me to help more charities, CIOs and CICs at once. I use the skills I have developed over my 20+ year career to help non-profits like yours develop your strategy, raise sustainable sources of funding, put in place systems and develop needs-based programmes that make a difference to the people you serve.
Are you looking for a way to grow your organisation & bring financial sustainability so that you can focus on supporting the people your organisation serves?
Let me help you transform your organisation so it can grow and thrive… As a non-profit leader, you are committed to your cause and want to be able to help people. You want to have the time and space to be able to focus on running programmes that make a difference to people’s lives.
My background & why I can help you
Over 20 years’ experience in the non-profit sector...
My experience in the UK and overseas, includes leading award-winning organisations, programme management and fundraising to transform non-profits’ fortunes. I started off in grass-roots programmes in Kosovo in gender programmes which included running an NGO providing psychosocial support to widows and orphans in very rural areas. I also led a counter-trafficking programme and worked on a project on women’s participation in the economy. I worked in a number of grassroots and international programmes before coming back to the UK and working in organisations such as Mind, Refuge, Doctors of the World, CARE International and many more.
I worked in programme management before moving over to fundraising and then becoming a charity CEO. I understand how a charity works from many different perspectives and this helps me create synergies between the different areas of your organisation.. I use the skills I have gained working across organisations in a range of contexts to help other leaders create effective roadmaps to help your organisation thrive.
Tens of millions of pounds of fundraising achievements for non-profits of all sizes in the UK and overseas
My fundraising experience encompasses most areas of fundraising including institutional fundraising, trusts and foundations, corporates and crowd-funding. The largest ever single grant I won was £6.7 million for a three-year programme. I have extensive experience with trusts and foundations. Some of my achievements include securing £1 million from Comic Relief for a gender and water and sanitation project, after the charity I worked with had been trying to secure funding from them for 10 years. Other grants secured from trusts include £500k from the Oak Foundation for a 5-year mental health programme, £450k from the Lottery for a 3-year mental health programme.
But it’s not always about the bigger grants. I helped a brand-new Black, woman-led charity secure their first project funding of £20k through Awards for All. The funding allowed them to run a project that was driven by the recommendations of their ground-breaking research. My experience with corporates includes securing a grant of £120k for a project tackling Sexual Gender Based Violence from ViiV Healthcare and work with corporates such as the La Fondation Orange and The Cigna Group.
Some examples of my work include:
1
I led a research project in the UK on barriers to accessing health and education services for minority ethnic groups that determined a local authority to fund a full-time monitoring and evaluation role and extending the local catchment area to include people from minority ethnic backgrounds.
2
I ran disability needs assessments in Lebanon for an international charity.
3
Running award-winning disability programmes across Africa and South Asia, utilising highly participatory methods such as PRA to gauge communities’ views, combined with my background in inclusion and using Project Cycle Management skills and techniques to develop multi-disciplinary programmes. I have used this to successfully design, implement and evaluate programmes to create and implement robust strategies. I place a strong emphasis on ensuring that the voice of those we serve, heavily influences the development of programmes. If you need help demonstrating impact or reaching the most excluded groups, Social Innovation Solutions can help you with this.
Values-based organisation
Social Innovation Solutions was born from a strong sense of social justice and a desire to see positive change. People’s life chances are often deeply influenced by things that are out of their control. It has never been enough to just feel an organisation is doing some good, it is about creating systemic change, where grassroots initiatives come together to create change and affect policy, so people are able to realise their potential and become a powerful catalyst for change.
Three things you might not know about me…
1.
I travelled to the former Yugoslavia before, during and after the war. After learning to speak fluent Albanian, I decided that working with communities to make a difference was what I really wanted to do. So I packed up my life into the back of my Volkswagen Golf and drove across Europe in 4.5 days, (and got there in one piece!)… just one month after getting my driving licence in the UK.
2.
I am an avid linguist. I speak 5 languages fluently. English (native), French, Spanish, Albanian and Italian. I have worked extensively in the first 4 languages. I am currently learning my 6th language – Arabic - but safe to say that I won’t be offering to do any funding proposals in Arabic any time soon!
3.
When I am not working, I love to travel with my family. So far, I have lived in four countries, have travelled to nearly 40 countries and am building on the list of places to visit. If you want to know which ones were my favourites, feel free to ask me…
What drives me?
I felt moved to work in the charity sector after spending time in Kosovo before and during the war there. I went to work there in the emergency post-conflict phase and was profoundly moved by the people I met, the things they had been through and the sheer courage it takes to rebuild your life from scratch in devastating circumstances. I learnt to speak Albanian fluently and lived there for 3 years, working with widows and orphans and on gender projects, including running a counter-trafficking shelter and programmes on women’s participation in the economy. This ignited my passion for working in a sector that could make a difference to people’s lives.
I went on to lead award-winning charities, managing programmes in the UK and overseas in areas as diverse as gender, healthcare, education, international development, mental health, social inclusion. My experience includes everything from winning millions of pounds for life-saving programmes (the largest single grant I won was £6.7 million for a 3-year mental health, peri-natal and primary health care programme for refugees in Lebanon and Jordan) to developing projects that reach the most marginalised groups, so that everyone is able to achieve their potential.
I really believe that the human experience is driven by a sense of connection with others and this is something that drives me in my work and beyond. I am fluent in five languages English, French, Spanish, Albanian and Italian and have worked extensively in the first four languages throughout my career from working with local communities directly to ensure their views drive change, to working on funding applications for international donors.