A bit about BLOC – an interview with BUD CEO Georgina Wilson
BLOC came about in an effort to empower, and is designed to offer people the opportunity to share and develop skills, for free.
We spoke to BUD CEO Georgina Wilson about the inspiration behind BLOC, alongside how it came to exist.
“BLOC is the BUD Leaders Online Community.” says Georgina. “This is where you are able to connect with others who are leading positive change in business and community.
“BLOC has come about from many years of envisioning a platform that was able to allow people to recognise the great skills that they have.
“But it’s also for sharing them, and building this reciprocity that I think those who are leading positive change often don’t have. Leaders can feel quite isolated and lonely, and if we come together and learn from each other, we can do so much more.”
BLOC was inspired by another project run by Georgina, Lead Positive Change.
“I remember when I did my first programme, Lead Positive Change, which was a programme that helped enable leaders who had ideas for change to bring them into fruition. It was a great programme, and the key ingredient was skillsharing.
“First and foremost, people sort of said ‘what skills do I need to have’, because you could only join the programme by trading your skills. They were unsure about what they could offer people.
“I said every single person has skills. it doesn’t matter who you are, you have a skill, and I can guarantee that we can uncover it.”
After the success of the Lead Positive Change programme, Georgina wanted to offer a way for people to access resources, for free, online.
“What I’ve learned to recognise is that people don’t understand the value in the skills that they have, and they were unable to offer these skills out to people in a practical way.
“BLOC enables people to learn from each other. BLOC is designed for anyone that’s really focused on leading change. It doesn’t matter if you’re the leader of an organisation that has 500 employees, or a leader in a grassroots organisation.
“I want to have a platform where we can share our resources, grow and develop together, and disrupt the landscape of leadership.”
In lieu of a membership fee, BLOC runs on skill exchanges, through SkillShare. Members pledge to offer and receive an hour of skill exchange every month. This is instead of membership fees.
“You’re going to be able to connect with people that maybe you hadn’t thought that you could connect with. It’s a great way to start making valuable networks.
You give one hour of your time per month, by creating an offer that somebody else can receive, and receive an hour of somebody else’s time, after highlighting what your needs are.
“BLOC is creating a culture of reciprocity, authenticity, and creativity. We want our members to be empowered whilst empowering others, and for leaders to sow the seeds for change.”
You can join BLOC from the 8th of November here! We are also running an event on the 17th of November, where we talk through how you can access and use some of the features on the website! You can sign up to the event here!
