Have you ever reflected on your own journey and the defining moments of your life? These don’t need to be large and filled with awards, they can be quiet moments of understanding and connection – a feeling that settles in your stomach when you’ve just learned, felt or witnessed something profound. I’ve experienced a few of these in the last few years. They are never at the level of a so-called ‘star’ moment but are almost always unexpected, and usually happen when I’ve said yes to something out of the ordinary or beyond the comfort zone of my daily life.

Over the course of 2022 and into 2023 when we launched Unearthodox, two stand out to me.

One was a very unexpected conversation with a soft-spoken, calm woman while I was at a community conservation event in Kenya. I had found myself signing up for a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) discussion group and, as facilitation often does, we ended up being paired up to share our thoughts on the topics that had arisen: trust, empathy, toxic structures, values and valuing, policies and learning.

I came away from this conversation with much more than I expected. My partner was open enough to share a part of her life story including her personal challenges about community, role-modelling, and above all else, how one person reaching out from a place of care can send ripples of change from the individual level, through community and landscapes to other living creatures – it can be felt in intergenerational change that persists.

I didn’t get a discussion on DEI. I got a living, breathing example of regeneration in practice. This was something grounded in true care and connection. Something that is small and expands. Something that gives more than it takes and something that offers a fundamentally different story to those underpinning our dominant systems today. This exchange was a gift. Had I spoken instead of listening, I would never have received it.

The second profound moment came unexpectedly while I was listening to a podcast. The idea of ‘asset framing’ (as explained by Trabian Shorters) asserts that we should fundamentally define people by their aspirations and what they are capable of instead of seeing them as needing to be saved, in deficit or somehow destined for failure without the typical NGO or not-for-profit intervention. In fact, the direct opposite of what we might think of as the ‘saviour’ narrative that is rampant in much of the not-for-profit work that I have been part of for decades.

It wasn’t that I was unaware of this previously, but this particular description was clear and insightful. No jargon. This reframing has greatly inspired my leadership and makes a fundamental difference in the way that I approach my work as a CEO, my life as a mother, and my existence as a human being in nature. The world is already an abundant place of human energy, talent, innovation, passion and drive for change. People are inherently capable. But our current global systems convince us that that hope and passion are scarce.

In both moments, I can reflect on Unearthodox. As the founding CEO, I view our organisation fundamentally as an expression of care for all life, all nature. I also view us as a catalyst, a connector, a space maker. We don’t need to invent talent, passion or people who want the world to be better – they are already here. What we can offer is hope, opportunity and allyship in ways that lead to the aspirations of many becoming real.

This is why we are a hybrid organisation – partly a think tank and partly an incubator – always concerned about making deep systemic change happen. We combine a concern for deep-rooted problems in our nature-society relationships and a belief in open and multiple futures with a focus on concrete innovations. We are aware that if we want to achieve systems change through innovation we need not just a mindset shift but a ‘heartset’ shift.

At Unearthodox, we believe that together we really can co-create change, that social-environmental innovation really could be a level playing field, that reflection and framing really can lead to more effective ideas and bold social change, and that there already is abundant energy, talent and curiosity to rethink pathways to societal change. In this annual report, you will find some of the examples of how this is becoming a reality.

I cannot thank enough my team, our network of consultants, our Board and President of the Board, and all those who invest time, money, resources, advice and care into our work. I see and feel their efforts and am grateful to have the chance to serve our mission and all of you collectively. We have great ambitions and we can’t make them real alone.

This report shares the highlights of the last year, and there were many! 2023 was also a year of challenges and super-human efforts from all involved, including our innovators and networks. The goodwill needed to launch this organisation has been a source of real energy and inspiration. I am humbled by those who continue on this journey with us and by those from whom I have learned.

I invite you to read this report from a place of open heart and mind. 2024 will offer up its fair share of life-defining moments if you are open to receiving them and looking for them in unexpected connections. Free your imagination and make space to seek the unusual, bold or radical ways in which we can all change so all of nature (including us) can thrive.

I invite you to #BeUnearthodox.

Melanie Ryan

March 2023
We launched Unearthodox! Our bold, brave new brand and website were carefully crafted to reflect Unearthodox as a force for change and to engage with the diverse range of people, ideas and unexpected pathways with which we work.

June-October 2023
Together with Impact Hub and IUCN CEESP, we led an incubation and co-learning programme for the nine global winners of the Future of Conservation NGOs innovation challenge, which represent innovation on five continents.

July 2023
Our Digital Disruption for Conservation Toolkit is designed to provide conservation practitioners with a basic introduction to Web 3.0 and AI concepts and their potential use for nature conservation.

October 2023
We published the Future of Philanthropy collaborative inquiry, ‘Perspectives and Pathways’, which gathers diverse perspectives on how new paradigms and alternative approaches to philanthropy could generate the best outcomes for nature, including people.

October 2023
We brought you the Resource Library for the Future of Conservation, a gateway to broadening horizons, sparking innovative ideas and paving the way towards a future that is not only sustainable but actively regenerates nature.

October 2023
We hosted the Unearthodox Learning Festival, a month of exploration, celebration and forward-thinking that explored groundbreaking concepts and how they're challenging traditional approaches and driving transformation in conservation.

October 2023
We started a specially curated incubation and co-learning programme to support 'Global Conservation Connect' (GCC), a virtual community of practice, which was launched on 22 April 2024, World Earth Day.

With the launch of Regenerative Futures as our new programme for 2024–2026, we are taking a significant step forward towards transformative change in the relationship between nature and society.