Her Excellency, the First Lady of Zambia, Mrs Maureen Mwanawasa was welcomed to the Lake District last week as a special guest at this year's Impact conference.

Almost 80 participants attended our 11th annual Conference, which was held at our headquarters in Windermere and focussed on Leadership for Sustainable Enterprise.

The participants represented a range of organisations from all over the world, and included Apple, Christian Aid, Google, Natural England, RBS, Scottish Power, Shell and Sony. Throughout the 3 day event, a host of inspirational speakers including the First Lady of Zambia, Anna Ford (ex-BBC and non-executive director of Sainsbury’s), Tim Smit (CEO of the Eden Project in Cornwall) and Richard Leafe (CEO of the Lake District National Park Authority) left the audience energised and motivated to do things differently back at work.

Chris Goscomb, an attendee from Shell in the Netherlands commented: “This event is a fantastic blend of inspiration, passion, intention, ideas and doing something about it. I will do!”

In addition to key speaker presentations, the programme was a true Impact learning event, with dynamic projects, visioning workshops and facilitated dialogue. As well as looking at transformational and entrepreneurial leadership, the event explored the role of HR in sustainable enterprise and the impact of climate change issues on business. Even the gale force winds and rain during the Windermere Lake Cruise could not dampen the spirits!

Please click on the thumbnails below to view images. 

"Impact works with organisations on their journey to becoming a sustainable enterprise. Sustainable enterprise is about creating and innovating new business strategies and activities that accelerate positive social change, protect and preserve environmental integrity, whilst enhancing business performance. The Impact Conference has gained notable international recognition over the past 11 years, bringing together a mix of global organisations to explore synergies and commit to real action”.
David Williams
Founder and CEO
Impact International

Please click on the links below to hear what some of this year's participants had to say about the event:

Caroline Walker, Premier Farnell
Chris Goscomb, Shell
Doug Fraley, Google
Jane Clark, DFID
Kate Markey, Community Action Network
Martin Bigg, The Environment Agency
Will Williams, Natural England

The 12th Impact Conference will take place 16th-18th June 2009
To book your place, or for further information, please contact Carol