There’s something special about purpose-driven organisations. When your “product” is people and change (not profit) everything feels more personal. Your values and your work are often intertwined; you care deeply because the mission matters. But that also makes things complex. Boundaries blur. Identity and vocation overlap. And questions about fairness, representation and power take on a different tone when your shared goal is to make the world better.
I’ve been on all sides of that conversation. As a charity CEO, as someone who’s worked with unions, and as someone who’s been supported by them. And what I’ve learned is that the charity sector and the union movement are, in truth, beautifully aligned.
At their heart, both are about dignity, fairness and voice. Both are about creating the conditions for good work and meaningful lives. Both challenge systems that are unjust, and both believe that people – when respected, trusted and well supported – can be the drivers of change.
That’s why I love seeing more purpose-driven organisations embracing unions, and more unions recognising the unique challenges of the social and voluntary sector. Because the truth is, we need each other.
The charity sector brings creativity, compassion and innovation in tackling society’s hardest problems. The union movement brings the history, structure and strength of collective power — the ability to make fairness not just a value, but a practice. Together, they can model what a fair future of work could really look like.
We’re living through a moment where trust in institutions is fragile, inequality is rising, and many of the systems we rely on are showing their cracks. It’s exactly the right time for progressive people in foundations, charities, movements and unions — to find common ground again. To show that fairness and purpose aren’t opposites. They’re the same fight.
That’s the space I love working in: where people, purpose and fairness meet.
Lara Norris 
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