Meet our new Directors – Nankunda Katangaza

Meet our new Trustees is a short profile series our five brilliant new Trustees , elected to our Board at our June AGM.

Here we meet Nankunda Katangaza

CCF: Hi there Nankunda! Great to meet you. To start, could you tell us what your day job is?

NK: I am a co-founder and director of a small research, advisory and consulting company based in the City of London. Our clients are companies, government departments, institutions and multilateral entities operating in legal and professional services sectors globally.

CCF: That sounds really varied and interesting! What interested you about joining CCF as a director?

NK: As a relatively recent entrepreneur and co-founder of a women-owned and led SME in the services sector, I am all too aware of the financial challenges facing small business but also more broadly in accessing advice, information and other support to grow a business. I am also very keen to learn more about businesses that straddle the private and public sectors, who have a clear social purpose and, as such, have the potential to make a positive impact beyond a purely commercial one.

CCF: We love that last sentiment. What previous experience have you got in the social investment field?

NK: Absolutely none! I occasionally volunteer for a friend’s social enterprise working with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to secure internship and work placement opportunities which are often inaccessible to them as they don’t have the family and social networks that often facilitate those. That was how I found out about social enterprises and became interested in that business model.

CCF: Given that your background is in ‘traditional’ business, why do you think social investment matters?

NK: To me, social investment means investment that does not just benefit a company but investment that has far-reaching impact in a community or society. This type of investment not only builds individual capacity, but also provides the means for that person to contribute to the growth and progress of their community as well as their own individual or family’s prosperity.

CCF: What co-op’s, community businesses and social enterprises have you got involvement in?

NK: Again, none apart from regularly shopping at my local co-op store. Also, as a grad student many years ago, I worked part-time in a co-op grocery store which paid my bills!

CCF: Co-ops are there in the background then! Finally – if you could make one change to civil society what would it be?

NK: To take an even broader perspective, to look beyond the narrow confines of our immediate society and its needs and to take a wider, global view. There are lessons to be learned from other societies and how they address the same issues all of humankind (and non-human inhabitants of the planet!) face and opportunities to share perspectives and create a bigger collective voice to address the challenges.