As a journalist writing about the charity sector, I speak to a lot of CEOs from charities of all sizes, which operate across a myriad of sectors. And the people I speak to are are as diverse as the organisations they work for. I’ll admit, however, that Indy Cross, CEO of Agenda Alliance, is arguably one of the most interesting, and inspiring individuals I’ve come across.

Indy Cross has always been drawn to social justice. “It was a big thing to go to work every day knowing that I was making some sort of difference and there were key things that were close to my heart – young people, women’s issue, racial equity,” she tells me.

Through roles within marketing and communications, she managed to work her way up from an assistant position to senior leadership. It was in her last role in a criminal justice charity that set her on the path of becoming a CEO. “I worked very closely with the CEO of Spark Inside [...] she was the one that said to me: ‘I think you’re ready’.

“Having had the experience of working so closely with the CEO, it felt like a natural thing. And this role came up and it was perfect.”

That was nearly three years ago – right in the middle of a global pandemic. Naturally, that environment was one of the immediate challenges she faced, but she found that the biggest challenge for her was that there was nobody like her in the team.

“We’re a policy campaigning organisation and it comes, I suppose, with a certain type of person drawn to those roles. Me being a new CEO, particularly of South-Asian descent, not having a policy background, made me wonder whether I was the right person.

“I quickly realised that actually, I was, and they made the right decision because that’s what they needed.”

“This organisation isn’t set up for people like me”

But being the right person for the job didn’t make things easy. “Nobody looked like me, nobody really understood where I was coming from and that presented challenges early on.”

In one instance, Cross did a media interview around the experiences of Black, Asian and minitorised women in the criminal justice system. This was followed by a slew of racism on Twitter.

“That wouldn’t have happened to the previous CEOs who were all white – they were going out, doing their media interviews and being head of the organisation.” But simply because of the colour of her skin, Cross was targeted.

“I thought: ‘Oh wow, this organisation isn’t actually set up for women like me’.”

She emphasises it’s not an organisation specific issue; a lot of charities simply aren’t prepared for a situation like that “and that’s where work needs to be done.”

Fortunately for Cross, Agenda Alliance was willing, and able, to put in place the things that were needed and she praises the team and the board for doing so.

“For them to listen, really listen, believe my experience, take it on and back the decision I make [...] I can’t tell you how much it helped me to know that they supported that.”

And pause...

The support Cross has received from her team and the board means that they’ve been able to do something considered quite unusual in the sector – to pause their ‘business as usual’ operations and consider next steps.

“We’re at an inflection point [...] we’ve got to a point where lots of things are happening at once and it’s made us go ‘okay, hold on, we need to come together and reflect on this and figure out what we do now’”.

One of the changes is as a result of a survey of the Alliance’s members. “We’ve got some really rich data on what they’re looking for and that what they want is social movement building so we need to stop and think – how do we do that? How do we give that to them.”

The charity also has two new co-chairs, both with lived experience, and with an anniversary next year it seemed an “obvious” point to sit and think about what is next.

“It’s very exciting, but the only way to do it is to slow down. We can’t carry on business as usual when something like this is happening.”

When Cross first started in her role, the Alliance was reliant on grant and trust donations and so one of the areas they’re working on is the move towards “really visionary philanthropic individuals”.

For an organisation that doesn’t necessarily prescribe by hard numbers and measures impact in other ways, a funder with a different point of view is key. “It requires a vision of five years, 10 years down the line and thoughts about how we’ll change the whole system rather than just the individual.

“So it may feel like a risky thing to do, but that’s what we’re looking for; we’re looking for people who can understand what we’re doing and put their money where their mouth is.”

One thing I get from Cross is that she’s excited about the future of the charity. “I think it will be different in terms of how we influence, how we campaign, the lived experience, I think it will come through much more. I don’t think we’re going to be a traditional policy organisation anymore, we’re just not sure what that means. I don’t know yet… and it’s exciting.”

A way to go

To get to this idea and way of working has taken time and experience. Cross has worked within the charity sector for 20 years and has seen what has changed, and what hasn’t. “I do definitely see different leaders, but not as many as there should be. For example, there’s a recent stat, which was something like 51% of charity boards still don’t have a black, Asian, minoritised women on their board. That is wild to me.”

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, she saw a shift, but not enough.

“You bring in all these people into lead, but they’re working in organisations that have structures and systems in place that don’t meet their needs. So you’re setting them up to fail.”

In the recent riots around England, for example, she saw “loads of charities” putting out statements “but I know for a fact some of those charities were not supporting their staff who were people of colour”, she adds.

“So I think yes, so much more needs to be 29 PROFILE done. You can’t just have a certain leader in place and think you’ve ticked a box. There’s so much more you do to support them and make sure they can do their job.”

Another type of battle

Cross has also been open about being diagnosed with breast cancer and the changes since. Nine-months into her role as CEO, she had a trip to Jamacia. “I remember thinking just before going ‘something needs to change’ because I felt like I was burning out.” It was a mixture of feeling like she needed to do everything in a small organisation, prove herself and not prioritising herself enough.

The day after she came back, Cross was diagnosed with breast cancer. “The first thing I said was: ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die’”. Thankfully, it was caught at an early stage. “That made me stop, I was forced to stop and it really changed the way I did things at Agenda Alliance.” After three months into treatment, Cross was back at work.

Having that experience changed things for both her and the organisation, “because then you’re modelling that and everybody else can take that on board”, she says.

“Genuinely, if this thing doesn’t come back for me.. this was one of the best things that could have happened to me.”

A feminist way of working

Every CEO has their own way of leading. Some don’t have a name for it, but Cross identifies her leadership style “as a feminist way of working”.

It’s a phrase I’ve not heard before, but that resonates with me, and it’s a theme throughout our conversation. “You see so many women who just carry on with all this other stuff happening. They’ll carry on because they’ve got funders relying on them, so they can’t let people down.

“We can’t do that,” she emphasises, “we need time and space to honour what’s happening in the organisation and to do it right. It does take courage, which is also a feminist value, and it’s the right way to do things for sure.”

The notion of feminist leadership flows in and out of everything we talk about. “I probably wouldn’t have said that before having cancer,” she admits, “but it’s part of being vulnerable”. “Being a vulnerable leader [...] it’s really important to show that you’re human and model that as well.” It’s a type of leadership style that shows trust in her team, shows that she cares as well as being inclusive and collaborative.

“Courage is a big thing for me, and that means being brave and saying things that you’re truly scared to say, but having the courage to say it. So giving feedback, but doing it in a respectful way, is really important. People don’t like to give feedback because they’re too scared of upsetting somebody; because we care, right? But have the courage to do it - just do it respectfully. All of that for me is feminist leadership.”

Indy Cross is the sort of leader I aspire to be. It’s evident that Cross genuinely cares, and, amid the chaotic nature of life, she is someone everyone can learn from. There’s no doubt she’s the type of leader the sector needs more of.

This profile was first published in the Autumn 2024 edition of Charity Times

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