In crisis, how to not fear change

Jean-Michel Grand Action Against Hunger UK’s chief executive, the international charity stopping life-threatening hunger in its tracks. He joined in 1994 as a field worker and spent nine years in some of the world’s most challenging environments, responding to a variety of humanitarian crises.

Grand plays an instrumental role in the charity’s mission of supporting communities throughout the world, but mainly in low-income countries. There are approximately 8,000 people working in the Action against Hunger network. 150 of these staff are employed in the UK. The UK turnover went from £50 million in 2020, to £10m in 2021 and back to £35m in 2022.

November 2003 was a pivotal moment. At the time, I was still a trustee. Since then, it has been an exciting journey.

Two of our major donors withdrew their funding. I was given four weeks to think of a solution. These included liquidation, in which if we continued on the same model we wouldn’t survive. We can either keep going as we are and try to improve, but this is unlikely to work. While the third option was to merge or create a new organisation, the last was to redefine our rules within our network.

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The second option was chosen. Our influential chair resigned immediately at the first board meeting. Paul was a trustee, but he was more like a moderator and board member. He got the chair to stay longer, and he calmed him down. He was the one that got to the bottom of the matter and led the discussion, so we could make an informed choice. We were able to save the organization and work together to adopt a board approach.

Paul taught me not to be afraid of change and to embrace a bold approach. Paul was instrumental in negotiating and getting people on board. It was about thinking differently and that every crisis was an opportunity in Paul’s mind.

He said that crises are disruptors and we shouldn’t look at short-term solutions, but to look forward with a better analysis of where we want to be in a few years time. He instilled this thinking that every crisis shouldn’t be rushed, rather what we can learn and do better from them.

Paul is proud to be a Geordie. He is calm, a great listener, and a skilled negotiator. He has worked for large corporations over many years as a consultant. He is able to take in, process, and drive the conversation towards a result that you are proud of. Our board now has the same attitude and engages with other opinions before making any decisions.

Our organization is concerned with hunger prevention and mitigation. This involves a lot of data that can be processed and modeled to predict some of the risks. Satellite technology allows us to spot areas of potential risk and determine the water level. Our teams gather millions of data about the availability of food and its prices, as well as the levels of malnutrition in the form of children’s measurements to determine if they are undernourished.

It is more difficult when there is conflict or war, which is the main driver for hunger. Although it is not always predictable, technology is becoming more important. The charity’s work has never been more pivotal as countries around the world are caught up in protracted conflicts, whilst weathering climate change, and failing to get access to food in a system which does not distribute goods fairly.

We are also returning to basic technology. To measure malnutrition risk, we use a tape made of green, yellow and red colours that is wrapped around the child’s upper arm. The tape is distributed to families and the parents are instructed how to use it. We are working more and more with people becoming the source of the data, as we understand how critical the first 1000 days of a child’s life is.

The question we’re asking is: What are the UK’s innovations or accelerators that can have the greatest impact on fighting hunger? There are other ways that people can be helped. We are mindful of our finances. Today, it’s quite unbelievable that only 20% of children in the world who are seriously malnourished are receiving treatment – when we know the other 80% exist. It’s a standout which would never be acceptable in the UK. Imagine if 20% of NHS patients could access treatment.

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Many people say that it is important to not postpone decisions for too long at any level of business. There’s nothing worse than not making any decision. Paul was a great leader in getting the right decision made for the organization. It is reassuring to a board that the relationship between a chair and the CEO plays a critical role in the success of any organization.

Paul and I have a lot in common. We both know that the responsibility comes with our position. We have a great relationship but the social side is very limited. This is good for the company. We don’t go to see Newcastle play football but we have a drink together from time to time.

It’s important for the board to look at the executive with a critical eye as well as to be supportive. We have achieved success so far, and we have found the right balance for our relationship.

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