trustee motivation

Martin McEnery, Progressio's new chairman, believes in empowering people. He's believed in it for years. He trained as a barrister. One of 'the most powerful experiences' of his life came when helping a group of five women in Islington to run a housing association.

'It had such a powerful effect,' he recalls. 'They were living in over-crowded accommodation with four or five children in a room.

'We used to meet once a week just to commiserate with one another. But gradually they organised themselves into a tenant-managed co-operative which is today a multi-million pound organisation. 'Working this way, empowering people, helps people to be more effective, to realise their potential, to get more control over their lives. It gives them a huge sense of achievement.'

This way of working is one of the things that drew Martin (67) to Progressio. 'You can't give power to people,' he says. 'They have to develop it themselves. Working with people to help them be more effective is what Progressio does and I think it's a great model.'

Martin has worked for 20 years in management consultancy in the UK, Europe, Africa and India, including work with DFID in a number of countries.

His passion for development work goes back to his early twenties, when he decided to 'put off entering the rather male, traditional world of the barrister' by living in Dar-Es-Salaam for two years, teaching law in the country's newly-formed university.

It was an exciting time, just after independence, with a tangible sense that anything was possible in a new country. But there were daily reminders of how much work it was going to take to build a nation. His two years in Tanzania 'transformed' Martin's worldview and has led to a career dedicated to releasing peoples' potential and to righting inequalities.

'All along the way, my experiences have shown me that resources are unevenly spread across the world; that poverty needs to be dealt with proactively; that having power gives us responsibilities and today many of the things that we can now do through the wonders of technology may prove to be unsustainable.

'We find ourselves at a crucial stage in the life of our planet. And facing this, Progressio may not be large as development agencies go, but we do have a great deal of power to bring about change.'

Martin took up the post of Chairman in September and will serve for three years. He lives in Hackney with his wife Helen, and they have two grown-up children, and he has one other grown-up daughter. When not working for Progressio, he enjoys sailing, singing, classical music and geology.