Adrian Lovett, Executive Director, ONE Campaign
Before Adrian Lovett spent two decades running some of the world's biggest development campaigns, he was a local radio DJ on the south coast of England, playing rather a lot of Pet Shop Boys on the 9pm to 1am shift.
Then came the 1992 general election. Neil Kinnock was expected to win. He lost. Adrian woke up the next morning, decided he wanted to understand why, sold his flat, and enrolled on a politics degree.
On the latest episode of Causes, Adrian — now Executive Director of the ONE Campaign, and formerly of Oxfam, Save the Children and the World Wide Web Foundation — talks to Dave about a career spent bringing very different people together for a shared cause. That includes a story about the Make Poverty History press conference, where tensions were running hot between campaigners just minutes before it began.
So what makes a great campaign? Adrian's answer is simple: you need a destination people actually want to reach, and you need people willing to build the boat that gets them there. At ONE, that destination is deliberately simple too: children should survive to the age of five, and then be set up to thrive well beyond it. As Adrian puts it, five isn't the end — it's just the beginning.
Asked what gives him hope right now, Adrian points to ONE's network of young ambassadors — and to research showing that even Britain's most sceptical voters, the ones drifting toward "burn it all down" politics, still care deeply about their neighbours and their community.
He's less sure about the internet. He spent five years leading the World Wide Web Foundation on the belief that good would win out over bad online — a belief he admits is being tested.
His advice to every campaigner in the world, squeezed into one text message? Be the newbie again, work out what's enough, and try to enjoy yourself.
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