Conference 'breeding a new army of business activists' returns to Brighton

Meaning, a gathering for progressive businesses, will take place for the sixth time on Thursday (November 16), with a line-up of pioneers and activists taking the stage at the Brighton Dome.
Meaning conference draws in business progressivesMeaning conference draws in business progressives
Meaning conference draws in business progressives

Mark Stevenson, described as an acclaimed author, entrepreneur and futurologist, will host this year’s one-day event. An eternal optimist, Stevenson will set the day’s tone inspiring participants to take bold steps forward with proof that meaningful change in vital industries such as big pharma, energy and education is possible.

Other speakers include global resilience guru and disaster consultant, Vinay Gupta, who will talk about blockchain and its potential to alter world bureaucracy for the better. Gupta has been described as ‘the man whose job it is to constantly imagine the collapse of humanity in order to save it’.

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The Misfit Economy’s author Kyra Maya Phillips will share her perspective on who is positioned to thrive in the business of the future. Kyra will reveal how innovators aren’t always found in corporate boardrooms, or agile tech start-ups, but often in street markets, prisons and refugee camps.

Mark Stevenson will host this year's conferenceMark Stevenson will host this year's conference
Mark Stevenson will host this year's conference

Carl Jarvis, headteacher at Hartsholme Academy, once dismissed as the 'worst school in the country', will tell his story of bold transformation.

Leadership teacher Margaret Wheatley will make her case that as this world tears us apart, sane leadership on behalf of the human spirit is the only way forward. From her deep and varied experiences, Wheatley has developed an unshakeable conviction that leaders must learn how to inspire people’s inherent generosity, creativity, and need for community.

Organisers said every speaker on the Meaning line-up represents a story of creativity and prevailing against limitations. This theme will be explored with its first day-long creative experiment, beginning with a public dialogue between economist Kate Raworth and theatre-maker Zoë Svendssen. Participants will be invited to respond to the dialogue with a creative solution to their own business dilemmas throughout the day. The fusion between arts and economics is part of Zoë’s long-running project on ‘the rehearsal of future scenarios’, set to premiere at the Barbican in 2018.

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Louise Ash, Meaning founder, said: “The purpose of Meaning is absolutely to breed an army of business activists, who will challenge the post-industrial norms of business culture and practice, reject hierarchy and innovate. Activitsts who will pilot new methods, approaches and ways of working to create a more sustainable, equitable and humane world.”

For more information and tickets, visit: brighton.meaningconference.co.uk