Bertha
Foundation
in 2024
August to October 2024
As we come to the end of 2024, Bertha Foundation is very proud of the work from the past year.
We have made a significant shift in organizational accountability and impact with the implementation of program and individual OKRs. We have revived our communications efforts to be more accessible and closer in time to the actual execution of work. Most importantly though we are having ongoing, serious conversations about how to constantly adapt the programs we run, the support we provide and the spaces we hold to meet this difficult time in history. We are recommitting to the work and remembering that our work is not easy, it is ongoing and it is rooted in our steadfast commitment to social and economic justice, without compromise.
We want to share with you a few things that have made us proud this year, and would be happy to talk more about each or all of these.
- Investigative journalist Fellow Stefano Valentino won a 2024 Climate Journalism Award under the fighting climate misinformation category for his Bertha Challenge work exposing how “big finance greenwashes climate crisis culprits.”
- Tommy Greene, a Bertha Challenge Alumni, won the Investigative Writing Award from the Irish Food Writing Awards for work linking soy supply in Ireland to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest - this article was an investigation that came out of Tommy's Connect Fund project with two Bertha Challenge Alumni.
- In 2024 we have seen a 280% increase in revenue at Bertha Retreat. Our staff in the Spaces program have benefited greatly from a feedback process asking for more training. The impact of the training is that our staff feel prepared and supported to provide a radical hospitality experience.
- This year we have received the highest number yet of Bertha Challenge applications, 226 - 68 more than the previous year - and Bertha Artivism applications which were up by 74 applications compared to 2023.
- We are proud of our ongoing solidarity and support for the people in Palestine against the genocide, through film fund, impact fund and grant funding.
Lastly, we also want to know what you would like to hear more about. So, after reading, please circle back and send us feedback at this link.
Thanks to our board for their ongoing support.
This year we want to
build a strong, connected, and ethically run institution
Our staff are at the heart of Bertha Spaces.
Our staff are the heart of the work that we do to serve our partners and communities. A fundamental focus this year has been on staff engagement and development.
At the start of the year an anonymous staff survey was carried out at both Bertha Retreat and Bertha House by Bertha Foundation’s HR partner, Angela Smith. The survey was rolled out to analyze our company culture and receive detailed feedback on the staff's respective roles within the company. Key pieces of feedback we received included:
- There is a need for communication from management about the company’s goals
- Staff would like consistent feedback on their work performance from managers
- The introduction of training and development programmes
- The want for clearer policies and procedures that would be included and implemented during training.
Our staff are at the heart of Bertha Spaces.
Our staff are the heart of the work that we do to serve our partners and communities. A fundamental focus this year has been on staff engagement and development.
At the start of the year an anonymous staff survey was carried out at both Bertha Retreat and Bertha House by Bertha Foundation’s HR partner, Angela Smith. The survey was rolled out to analyze our company culture and receive detailed feedback on the staff's respective roles within the company. Key pieces of feedback we received include:
- There is a need for communication from management about the company’s goals
- Staff would like consistent feedback on their work performance from managers
- The introduction of training and development programmes
- The want for clearer policies and procedures that would be included and implemented during training.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Since inception, Bertha Spaces has never carried out extensive training and development for all staff. This year we collaborated with a Capetonian female-owned business that specializes in professional training and skills development across the tourism, hospitality, retail and corporate sectors. Following a comprehensive needs assessment this partnership allowed us to tailor training programs specific to our spaces and the needs of the Bertha Spaces team. It also enabled us to develop standard operating procedures that align with our radical hospitality ethos. The majority of these training programs are accredited by South African training authorities meaning participants earned credits applicable to future career advancements in hospitality.
Training Programs Conducted (June 2024 - January 2025)
Leadership Training:
This program focused on core leadership and management concepts. It emphasized the practical application of these concepts and workplace assessments. From this, our leaders gained tools to implement effective strategies and evaluate the real-world impact of these techniques.
Monitoring the level of service to a customer:
This training centered on defining customer service standards and equipped our team members to measure ongoing customer satisfaction as well as taking the appropriate corrective action when needed to address customer dissatisfaction.
Motivate and Build a Team:
Highlighting the importance of motivation and team dynamics, this course emphasized understanding both oneself and team members in a workplace setting, fostering an environment conducive to high performance.
Food Service Assistant:
Tailored for chefs and kitchen staff, this training covered critical aspects of food preparation along with health and safety protocols essential for maintaining a safe and efficient restaurant environment.
Room Attendant Training:
This training was specifically designed for the Bertha Retreat team. It focused on the preparation and servicing of accommodation rooms to uphold superior cleanliness and guest satisfaction standards.
Table Attendant Course:
Concentrated on the art of serving food and beverages at Bertha Retreat, this program enhanced communication skills and customer interaction techniques, essential for delivering exemplary guest experiences.
This investment in professional development has meant our team are positioned to deliver on Bertha Spaces’ radical hospitality promise. The training will ensure superior guest experiences and foster a motivated, competent workforce prepared for future career progression.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Since inception, Bertha Spaces has never carried out extensive training and development for all staff. This year, we collaborated with a Capetonian female-owned business who specializes in professional training and skills development across the tourism, hospitality, retail and corporate sectors. Following a comprehensive needs assessment, this partnership allowed us to tailor training programs specific to our spaces and the needs of the Bertha Spaces team. It also enabled us to develop standard operating procedures that align with our radical hospitality ethos. The majority of these training programs are accredited by South African training authorities meaning participants earned credits applicable to future career advancements in hospitality.
Training Programs Conducted (June 2024 - January 2025)
Leadership Training:
This program focused on core leadership and management concepts. It emphasized the practical application of these concepts and workplace assessments. From this, our leaders gained tools to implement effective strategies and evaluate the real-world impact of these techniques.
Monitoring the level of service to a customer:
This training centered on defining customer service standards and equipped our team members to measure ongoing customer satisfaction, as well as, taking the appropriate corrective action when needed to address customer dissatisfaction.
Motivate and Build a Team:
Highlighting the importance of motivation and team dynamics, this course emphasized understanding both oneself and team members in a workplace setting, fostering an environment conducive to high performance.
Food Service Assistant:
Tailored for chefs and kitchen staff, this training covered critical aspects of food preparation, along with health and safety protocols essential for maintaining a safe and efficient restaurant environment.
Room Attendant Training:
This training was specifically designed for the Bertha Retreat team, it focused on the preparation and servicing of accommodation rooms to uphold superior cleanliness and guest satisfaction standards.
Table Attendant Course:
Concentrated on the art of serving food and beverages at Bertha Retreat, this program enhanced communication skills and customer interaction techniques, essential for delivering exemplary guest experiences.
This investment in professional development has meant our team are positioned to deliver on Bertha Spaces’ radical hospitality promise. The training will ensure superior guest experiences and foster a motivated, competent workforce prepared for future career progression.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK PUBLISHED
We proudly published an employee handbook that serves as a hands-on resource and framework around employment policies and practice, to ensure that we are consistent and fair. The employee handbook is aligned with the basic conditions of employment in the national labor act of South Africa.
BERTHA SPACES REWARDS AND RECOGNITION PROGRAM LAUNCH!
We launched a rewards and recognition program to incentivize staff to understand our values, acknowledge one another and create camaraderie. The Bertha Spaces Star program allows team members to experience our Boschendal Farm and Dorp Hotel, both Purpose Collective partners, as part of the reward.
Thembi Ngwane from Bertha House was unanimously voted for by her peers for commitment to her job, being a great team player, being hardworking and having a wonderful personality.
THE BERTHA CHALLENGE
August - October 2024
In 2024 we're making sure the Bertha Challenge enables Fellows to produce factually accurate work that exposes corporations and political players in relation to the Bertha Challenge question.
Key Result: Use the BC2025 selection process to ensure selected Fellows have the capacity to commit to the projects they propose.
International interest in the Bertha Challenge is still growing. We received a total of 226 applications for the 2025 Bertha Challenge. This was a higher number of applications, submitted from more countries, than in any of the program’s previous five years.
We have, year on year, increased the due diligence that we undertake as a part of the selection process. This year we have put particular effort into creating additional steps to ensure the capacity of selected Fellows to carry out their project and the capacity of their host organization to support and amplify their work.
We have:
- Spent 27 hours in interviews and follow-up meetings with our shortlisted applicants.
- Sent questionnaires or had interview calls with 30 referees for our 14 selected applicants. We asked referees to speak specifically to the applicant’s experience of independently leading and completing long-term projects, as well as demonstrating the key attributes that we ask for in our call for applications.
- Employed two interns to research applicant host organizations. Two students worked with us for two weeks during the application review period. One of their tasks was to gather information about the host organizations of activist Fellows, such as the focus of their work and how active they are. This information informed our assessment of the host organization’s capability to support and amplify the Fellow’s work - something that we consider integral to an impactful Bertha Challenge Fellowship project.
- Worked with Tactical Tech - a 20 year old organization working on socio-political and environmental impacts of technology on society - to get a brief risk profile for shortlisted applicants applying from the Philippines, Pakistan, India and Egypt. We will use this information in consultation with Fellows to discuss their security plans for their work and travel during their Fellowship year in an effort to ensure their ability to produce work as per their application.
As we reach the end of the selection process, we are excited about the 14 Fellows that will make up the 2025 Bertha Challenge cohort. Selected projects include:
Building a network of young climate activists in Sweden to investigate the environmental impact of aquaculture. With a degree in Ocean Sciences and a masters in Investigative Journalism, Frances Mills’ project will support members of an activist network to expose the true climate impacts of different forms of aquaculture in order to strengthen their capacity to hold polluting corporations to account.
Exposing tactics used by the Ayala corporation in the Philippines - one of the largest real estate, telecommunications, financial and insurance conglomerates worth USD 29 billion - to weaken and destroy an 11 year old community battle against land expropriation. The Ayala group is using various underhand tactics to build more high end hotels on the island of Sicogon, while, in the process, destroying fisher and farmer folks land and ability to farm. A doctor in philosophy, a Princeton fellow and political activist, Herbert Docena’s research will be used by residents of a small island to implement more effective strategies to defend their land and livelihood at a critical juncture in the community’s organized resistance.
Investigating seed piracy in Kenya, whereby companies - local and international - take indigenous seeds from communities on a pretext of research and then patent those seeds. Cynthia Gichiri, described as one of Kenya’s best young investigative journalists, will spend her Bertha Challenge year uncovering the state's collusion with companies - exposing how corporate and political interests are influencing Kenyan farmers from using indigenous seeds. Having grown up on a farm in one of Kenya's breadbasket regions herself, she has produced award winning work.
Frances Mills
Frances Mills
Herbert Docena
Herbert Docena
Cynthia Gichiri
Cynthia Gichiri
As we reach the end of the selection process, we are excited about the 14 Fellows that will make up the 2025 Bertha Challenge cohort. Selected projects include:
Frances Mills
Frances Mills
Building a network of young climate activists in Sweden to investigate the environmental impact of aquaculture. With a degree in Ocean Sciences and a masters in Investigative Journalism, Frances Mills' project will support members of an activist network to expose the true climate impacts of different forms of aquaculture in order to strengthen their capacity to hold polluting corporations to account.
Herbert Docena
Herbert Docena
Exposing tactics used by the Ayala corporation in the Philippines - one of the largest real estate, telecommunications, financial and insurance conglomerates worth USD 29 billion - to weaken and destroy an 11 year old community battle against land expropriation. The Ayala group is using various underhand tactics to build more high end hotels on the island of Sicogon, while, in the process, destroying fisher and farmer folks land and ability to farm. A doctor in philosophy, a Princeton fellow and political activist, Herbert Docena’s research will be used by residents of a small island to implement more effective strategies to defend their land and livelihood at a critical juncture in the community’s organized resistance.
Cynthia Gichiri
Cynthia Gichiri
Investigating seed piracy in Kenya, whereby companies - local and international - take indigenous seeds from communities on a pretext of research and then patent those seeds. Cynthia Gichiri, described as one of Kenya’s best young, investigative journalists, will spend her Bertha Challenge year uncovering the state collusion with companies exposing how corporate and political interests are influencing Kenyan farmers from using indigenous seeds. Having grown up on a farm in one of Kenya's breadbasket regions herself, she has produced award winning work.
Key result: Actively identify where Fellows require additional help with the 'investigate' part of their work and offer additional support through mentorship/ expert guidance.
The past Fellowship year was uniquely tough and demanding regarding individual journalists and activists drilling down on the Bertha Challenge question - disinformation and how it contributes to the climate crisis. During the Fellowship period the Bertha Challenge team responded to this challenge by dramatically increasing individual mentorship and support to Fellows over and above the two monthly meetings originally planned.
In addition to individual editing and mentorship, we offered all Fellows the option to work with award-winning corporate and financial investigator and 2020 Bertha Challenge Fellow, Sotiris Sideris. Sotiris has so far spent 55 hours over four months working with three activists on investigative aspects of their projects.
Sotiris worked with Nigerian activist Fellow Ken Henshaw to understand Shell’s divestment strategy in the Niger Delta. Shell is proposing to sell its assets in the Niger Delta to Renaissance Energy, a newly formed consortium. This move is opposed by activists and local communities as it would compromise Shell’s legal liability for damage caused by environmental and human rights exploitation.
‘Shell says it has reached an agreement with Renaissance Energy on the sale of its assets. I have discovered a few interesting facts about Renaissance Energy and the transaction. Number one: Shell is loaning funds to Renaissance Energy to purchase the assets. Number two: The leadership of Renaissance Energy is almost exclusively controlled by former Shell senior staff. Number three: Shell says that Renaissance will retain all former Shell staff and Shell will still operate all the oil assets. What does this say about the character and the shape of the divestment?’ - Extract from Ken’s podcast, reporting back on his work with Sotiris.
We are working with Sotiris on a plan to integrate his specific investigative support into next year’s program. There is a clearly articulated and urgent need for factual information on corporations, their profits, where and how it’s hidden in shell companies and their outsized influence on politics.
THE BERTHA
ARTIVISM AWARDS
August - October 2024
We've been working to maintain engagement with Bertha Artivists and showcase the Artivism program approach
As we approach the end of the current cohort’s award year, a second virtual convening was held with the 2024 Bertha Artivists. As well as sharing updates on progress with each of their projects, the Artivists identified two topics they wanted to focus on through a pre-convening questionnaire: common themes and connections within the cohort, and the creative process and challenges encountered along the way.
Production of the 2024 Artivism films is well underway; each Artivist has self-recorded an interview and provided materials that our filmmaker is in the process of bringing together to create 3 - 4 minute films about their projects over the year.
Another focus in this quarter has been the selection of the 2025 Bertha Artivists cohort. Where previously applicants were nominated by the Bertha team and network, this year we sought to broaden the reach of the program by doing an open call for applications. As a result, we received 114 submissions (of which 93 were eligible) from 26 countries around the world - a drastic difference from 2023 where we received 40 applications from 9 countries.
The selection panel included Sarah, Bertha’s Grant’s Manager, Sammy, Communications Manager, and Harry, Bertha Retreat’s Director. Each judge scored applications individually against four criteria: artistic vision, activism vision, community engagement and project feasibility. The judges then met and reviewed the highest scoring applications and selected a shortlist of eight. Interviews with the selected Artivists took place in mid November, with the aim to sign grant agreements before the end of 2024.
Info & Comms
August - October 2024
Grants and Data Management
Staff understand and use data to inform strategy for program development.
Bertha’s Grants Manager has continued to support the Bertha Spaces team to fine-tune their reporting and with further development of the Salesforce based booking system. As part of her recent trip to Cape Town, Sarah spent time with the Bertha Spaces team troubleshooting processes and looking at how the booking system is being implemented. This work focused on how the team can use Salesforce effectively and efficiently to support sales - especially of paid bookings for Bertha Retreat - and a work plan has been made to put this in action.
Bertha's Communications
This year we worked to make sure that Bertha Staff, Board and Family Office have increased understanding of portfolio and program spend and impact.
As of this report, three Bertha board reports in our new format have now been shared with Bertha’s board, staff, friends and family office! At the start of this year we wanted to reinvigorate Bertha’s communications, both internally and externally, and update how we reported to the Board - introducing a new board reporting framework was a big part of this process. Laura and Sammy, Bertha’s Communications manager, developed and designed the framework, look and feel of this new reporting format in the first quarter of this year. While previous reports focused on telling our stories of working with and enabling grantees, we now showcase the significant work that is being undertaken to run Spaces, run Fellowship programs and implement creative and enabling criteria for our Bertha Funds and our gatherings.
This report marks the second time we have included our budget in a board report, a completely new method of communicating our budget and spend. We introduced this feature into the report to keep both you, and ourselves, up to date and current on expenditure and budget in an engaging and accessible format. The graphic you’re seeing at the start of this report is a custom data visualization made especially for this report to share the budget in a way that both makes sense and is nice to explore.
The January to April and April to July board reports have received over 100 views - suggesting they have been a resource that readers have been coming back to! Additionally, on average viewers spend around 5 minutes reviewing the report, suggesting deep engagement with our content.
This year we worked to increase the impact of Bertha’s external communications to encourage engagement, connection, learning and amplify program reach.
In September 2024 we launched Bertha Stories - a limited collection of stories that unpack Bertha’s ways of working, what we mean by holding and creating space and what the outcomes of these methods look like. Bertha Stories is a part of reinvigorating Bertha’s communications; it marked our shift into focussed digital comms and sharing more bite-sized chunks of information with you, our staff, the Bertha network and the wider social justice world about Bertha’s work on our programs and the work of our Fellows, Artivists and Spaces. We have now published three stories, each written and designed by Sammy in collaboration with Laura and Bertha team members. Part of launching Bertha Stories was developing a sharing and distribution strategy to make sure each story reaches the audiences we want it to. This has included creating sharing kits for staff, establishing a design and distribution schedule and developing specific processes for reaching different audiences.
In the first two weeks of publishing, Issue No.1 and No.2 each received over 200 views - and this only continues to grow: Issue No.1 has now been visited over 500 times! Be sure to check out our freshly published Issue No.3: The Land Dilemma here!
On average viewers spend around 4 minutes on our Bertha Stories pages, suggesting deep engagement with our content.
BERTHA FUNDS
Technical and governance capacities of grantees strengthened
This quarter Bertha’s Grants Manager Sarah focused on supporting two grantees within the Bertha family: Excelsior Preschool and Philippi Village.
Excelsior provides early education and care for the preschool children of employees of Boschendal, Bertha Retreat and the Dwarsrivier Community Advice Office. Bertha has been supporting Excelsior to establish an Advisory Group, with the aim of strengthening accountability to the community and supporting strategic decision making. Bertha’s Grants Manager supported Boschendal’s Head of Education to develop a Terms of Reference for the group and sits on it as a Funder Representative. Other members include a Boschendal Representative, the Chair of the School’s Parent Teacher Committee, the School’s Principal and a Community Representative. The first meeting of the group was held in October, and the group will meet on a six weekly basis thereafter.
Bertha’s Grants Manager has been supporting Philippi Village to improve its reporting processes to streamline data collection and establish a framework for reporting to both its board and potential external funders and partners. Individual interviews were held with each member of the PV team to establish current processes, and in October Bertha’s Grants Manager travelled to Cape Town to spend time with the PV team to further develop the new approach. As a result, new templates for centralized monthly reporting, similar to Bertha Spaces’ monthly reporting, have been created. Staff training and support on using these templates is underway and will be ongoing in the next quarter.
After a busy summer of welcoming new schools and facilitators, we’ve officially started our fourth and largest year delivering the Ambassador programme here at Bertha Earth!
Launch Days
Things have started with a bang, with a record 14 launch days being delivered across London in September and early October. Launch Days give us the opportunity to meet everyone in Year 7 and invite them to experience who Bertha and Bertha Earth are and why we exist, take part in some taster workshops and, hopefully, apply for the Ambassador program. This year, just over 3,000 young people joined us for a Launch Day with 30% being motivated enough to apply to be an Ambassador.
In recent weeks our facilitators have been working hard in collaboration with our partner schools to select Ambassadors for this year’s program from the 876 young people who’ve completed an application.
Whole Year Group Pilot in School 21
Activity in School 21 kicked off earlier than our other partner schools, as we’ve embarked together on the ambitious pilot of trying to deliver the Ambassador programme to all 90 young people in their Year 7 this year. School 21 are the perfect partner for such a pilot due to their focus on holistic, collaborative and project-based education and experience of having partnered with us for the previous 2 years.
Highlights of the project so far
We launched this pilot in September and are now over halfway through delivery for our first cohort. The initial challenges of the project were made clear in the first session with a small number of young people visibly and vocally disengaged and reluctant to get involved. This was a stark contrast to the normal atmosphere of an initial workshop!
However, as the program has progressed we have noticed profound changes in the group. This was most noticeable in the Nature Connect Day at the London Wildlife Trust’s site in Woodberry Wetlands. All the young people got actively involved in practical activities including clearing overgrown brambles and creating story stones. Some young people even ended the day asking for opportunities to contribute to conservation activities within the school’s green spaces.
(School 21 on a Nature Connect Day at London Wildlife Trust)
(School 21 on a Nature Connect Day at London Wildlife Trust)
Enhancing our Training offer
September saw the annual training of our facilitator team in the Storytelling Room at Cavendish Square.
As we move to a more sustainable and impactful teacher-training model, we have onboarded 8 new teachers into the team as school-based facilitators. This training program has three core aims for our teachers for the year ahead:
- A strong understanding of the BE Ambassador Program and the BE Ethos
- Developed and grown as a professional within a learning community
- Feel confident, equipped and excited to deliver the Ambassadors program independently
Engagement Online
Following our successes with Instagram last quarter, we focused on expanding our presence on LinkedIn this quarter. With a 150% increase in posts, we’ve been more active and intentional about sharing our journey—and it’s paid off. Our network has grown by a 24% increase in followers, 348% boost in clicks, and 72% rise in impressions.
Focusing on LinkedIn has not only allowed us to reach a wider audience but also helped us connect with potential partners, strengthen relationships within the educational sector, and become more visible to schools that could join the Bertha Earth community in the future. LinkedIn also gives us a platform to showcase our unique culture and ethos, which is invaluable as we grow and look for talented individuals who resonate with our mission.
New Nature Connect Partner
In addition to workshops, every school gets a nature connect day with a partner to truly immerse themselves in nature at the beginning of the programme. We continue to work with Grow, London Wildlife Trust, The Royal Parks and Global Generation and we have onboarded a new Nature Connect Day partner in Creekside Discovery Centre. Located in Deptford, Creekside will offer a more accessible commute for some of our Eastern and Southern London schools, and we’ve co-designed an exciting day of nature connection with them which will include a low-tide wade, river-dipping, artivism, fire-lighting and baking!
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