Charlie Weinberg

I work with CEOs, Boards and teams to embed leadership, creative and strategic thinking across organisations.
The work I do often begins as one thing (a strategic plan, a team development session for example) and turns into other things (reflective practice for teams and individuals, Board away days or even programme, strategy and practice reviews.)

My work is practical (take away, concrete actions) and reflective (catalysing further thought, insights and questions). I use my own experience of significant leadership roles combined with my significant training and experience of therapeutic group work, culture change and organisational development.

I work with organisations as systems, seeking meaning in issues, concerns and discomfort rather than pinpointing individual actions or people responsible for particular events. My approach is more about whole organisations than it is about individual roles or people; although of course both are important and everyone has responsibilities and functions to fulfil.
Understanding the ways the whole organisation works can be a useful way to get a new look at impact, purpose, dynamics and relationships internally and externally.
This work is unusual and not easily described but it applies therapeutic theory, process and methods to organisational life, offering different perspectives on unknown unknowns and encouraging open, direct and candid communication.

This work supports the technical, administrative work of other departments and functions (HR, Ops, Finance, Income Generation, Comms etc), supporting everyone to identify and share boundaries, understand their remit and responsibilities and keeping a clear set of principles around the work, culture, expectations and development of the organisation and people who work there.

Clients

The Alliance for Youth Justice, Revolving Doors Agency, WALK Ministries, Abianda, Birmingham Community Matters, Kingston Voluntary Action, RBKares, Moving on Together, Voices of Hope, Warwick University and Camden and Islington NHS Trust.

Qualifications

Group Work Practitioner Status, Institute of Group Analysis
Counselling with Creative Writing PG Dip, Birkbeck University
International Class, EastSide Institute for Social Therapy
MA in Art and Media Practice (PG Dip) University of Essex
MA in Refugee Care University of Essex

Experience

I have worked in the voluntary sector in the UK for 30 years. I began my career as a volunteer youth worker, became the youngest youth work manager in Leicester City and ran a unique detached youth work project, worked in a hostel for homeless young people, developed a drugs risk reduction programme for young people and designed a wide range of participatory, innovative educational processes using video, drama, music and photography.

I spent six years as part of a team working on an award winning social soap opera in Nicaragua. Our programme dealt with contentious issues (racism, HIV prevention and stigma, sexism, drug abuse, family dynamics, exploitation) and was extensively evaluated.

On my return to the UK, I worked with Clean Break to design and deliver the only single sex programme for girls in prison at the time, before going on to be Executive Director of Safe Ground for 12 years, working across prison, probation and community with families and professionals involved in the criminal justice system.

My consultancy August.org supports organisations and communities with creative, therapeutic group work and 1:1 support to leaders.