It’s a pleasure to welcome Jo Burkill to CTP as our new Strategic Communications Manager. Jo has a postgraduate diploma in PR and media relations, and trained at one of the UK’s leading PR consultancies before moving to award-winning social enterprise Timewise, where she stayed for over 15 years. In her introductory blog, Jo, who will oversee all of CTP’s strategic communications, explains how her values and storytelling experience have shaped her pathway to CTP.

Toothpaste, wine, body lotion, fast food. You name a commercial product – I promoted it back in the early 2000s. Securing column inches for burgers, brews and bronzers. Encouraging people to buy more, more, more. It never felt right, nor good, nor ‘me’.

One day, I came across two women running a social enterprise designed to support mothers to return to work after children, in part-time, decently paid roles that would match their skills and experience. The whole set-up was inspired by one of the founders bumping into a mother she knew, working in her school’s kitchens. Once a lawyer, this kitchen assistant role was the only one that the woman could find, with enough flexibility hard-wired in. One woman’s story turned out to be one nation’s story, as the lack of decently paid part-time jobs in the UK fuels the gender pay gap and child poverty.

This lit a fire inside me. Not just because of the obvious waste of talent and inherent lack of fairness, but because there was a simple solution to the whole mess. Give women a place to be found and help employers to find them. Change the belief around what a ‘part-timer’ is – or can be. You’ve found a closed door? Kick it down.

Over 16 years I built my comms skills at Women Like Us, and latterly Timewise. Moving from a PR and media role, to campaigns, to heading all things comms and marketing. Our founders were named among the UK’s most radical thinkers, persuading CEOs to do things differently and kickstarting a quiet revolution in the workplace (not so quiet now). I learnt to reach our audiences through social media, media relations, storytelling and content creation.

Year after year, as I listened out for news items to do with the labour market, other stories began to drown them out. About war and the loss of lives. Food poverty. Health inequalities, housing inequality, ocean decline, habitat loss – a seemingly endless list of wrongs with one root cause. Framing ‘progress’ around things other than the wellbeing of this planet and its people.

I was delighted to discover the Centre for Thriving Places and to read all about its approach. We are deep into the 21st century, but a 20th century mindset still drives most of our systems. It is heartening to see so many leaders of places, recognising the moment for change and reshaping their regions to create stronger, brighter futures.

I look forward to finding ways to tell the world about what CTP and these inspiring leaders are doing, how by putting community and planet at the heart of our thinking, we take a step forward towards regeneration and renewal.

 Do you have a story about working with CTP? Would you consider being a case study? Perhaps you are a journalist or podcaster who’d like to know more. Please do contact Jo on joanna@centreforthrivingplaces.org.