7 Questions With Sister’s Community & Social Impact Manager, Karen Jelenje

At Sister, our aim is to be a driver of positive social change for Greater Manchester and beyond. Since opening the doors to our innovation district last autumn, our Community and Social Impact Manager, Karen Jelenje, has been dedicated to bringing this commitment to life.

Over the past year, Karen has been working with partners, collaborators, and the local community to bring a variety  of events, programmes, and initiatives into the newly refurbished Renold Innovation Hub. She has also led the launch of our Social Value Strategy to guide our community work under three core pillars: Connected Communities, Collective Wellbeing, and Inclusive Growth. 

To learn more about Sister’s community work and ambitions, we sat down with Karen to hear about her highlights from the past year, what community programmes we’ve launched and why promoting long-term positive social change is so important.

Read on to find out what Karen had to say!

1. One year on from Renold’s opening, what have been your highlights? 

Karen: “It’s been great to bring the Renold Building alive. I’ve loved welcoming people into the space, seeing them enjoying it, and using the space to host a variety of community events and initiatives. This has seen us offer free or low cost space for community groups to run everything from film screenings to open mic nights and social gatherings.

“Helping to create opportunities for people to attend these events and to network has been great – whether that’s connecting those running community initiatives and charities or simply just people looking to collaborate with Sister.

“I’ve also really enjoyed working in the local community and connecting with the Brunswick Tenants & Residents Association, who are doing some brilliant work with residents, and exploring how we can get involved in some of their events and activities.”

2. What community programmes has Sister launched during this time? 

Karen: “One example is our community panel, which has opened channels for people to have a say in what's happening at Sister. Not only has this been a great learning experience, it’s also been a great way to listen to local communities, learn about their challenges, and think about Sister’s future to ensure we’re building an inclusive innovation district where people feel welcome.” 

“Working with the Black Creative Trailblazers has been amazing, regularly hosting their open mic nights in Renold as a platform to showcase Manchester’s creative community and diverse creatives. I have also really enjoyed working with some of the exhibitors as part of our Innovation Exhibit program, such as FLAG-Me CIC and VIMA – two brilliant organisations developing solutions to support people with visual impairments. 

“I think it’s really important that we provide space for initiatives like these at Sister – whether it’s bringing arts and culture into our office space or bringing service users who could benefit from the innovations into Sister. This is something I’d like to explore more over the next year.” 

3. Why is promoting long-term positive social change so important to Sister? 

Karen: “Developments have a significant impact not just on the built environment, but on people as well.”

“We're going to have new buildings here, and these buildings can't function without people. At Sister, we’re focused on supporting innovation-led businesses looking to address global challenges, and I think everyone should be able to benefit from the developments and innovation that's happening here. 

“This is especially true in Manchester, where a huge amount of development is concentrated in the city centre. We need to think about Manchester more outwardly – about the amount of inequality there is in the city and what we can do. Development can have its downsides, of course, but there are also meaningful ways to ensure it genuinely benefits people. 

“The only way to do that is by committing to meaningful community engagement and understanding community and local residents’ challenges without assuming you know what they need. As we develop out Sister, it's crucial that we understand the context we’re working within – that we bring communities in and create pathways for people to have a real voice on what's happening here.” 

4. Could you tell us more about Sister’s Social Value Strategy? What ambitions shape it?

Karen: “There are three pillars linked to our Social Value Strategy: Connected Communities, Collective Wellbeing, and Inclusive Growth – and I think it's really important to have these pillars as an initial guiding principle. 

“We're still quite early on in the project and the approach so far has been focused on seeing what's possible. It’s been about testing the waters to see what’s working well and what’s not, understanding and gathering data and feedback around what we can do under these pillars.

“We don't have all the answers just yet. But it's been good to have the Social Value Strategy as a framework to outline our ambitions and the outcomes we want to see. Next year will really be focused on what we can do with our current resources.”

5. What roles do partnerships and collaboration play in this? 

Karen: “There are so many incredible organisations in Manchester doing amazing work, but I think it's important to find the right partners and collaborators that can help bring our vision and Social Value Strategy to life.

“For example, it's been great to partner with Young Manchester, who helped us to initially engage with young people on one of our first new development proposals, Zone C. Hopefully, over the next year or two, we'll introduce a youth offer at Renold where young people can be linked to and inspired by some of the businesses that are based here.”

6. How does Sister’s community work help to fuel collaborative innovation?

Karen: “It's important that researchers understand the broader impact their innovations can make on the community. They need to understand the intention and purpose behind them, engaging and collaborating with service users themselves.

“There can’t be an innovation hub like Renold without inviting local residents and communities to have a say on what's being developed. It’s about collaborating with the community as part of the innovation process – and facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration between businesses and entrepreneurs too. There are a lot of collaboration opportunities here at Renold for businesses to improve and evolve their innovations.” 

7. What are you looking forward to in this next chapter?

Karen: “There’s a lot to look forward to over the next year at Sister. One thing that springs to mind is engaging more with the businesses in Renold on how they can support volunteering and mentoring opportunities for young people.”

“Another is seeing our ecosystem expand – creating more spaces for people to use and enjoy – and exploring how we can bring arts and culture further into the space through events, because creativity is the key to innovating.”

“I’m also looking forward to seeing the space get busier and seeing new collaboration stories at Sister come to life. Whether that’s young people having career and skills development opportunities through some of the businesses here, or creatives connecting with tech companies to collaborate on exciting new projects.” 

“Building on Sister’s partnerships is another key focus, specifically introducing more partnerships focused on helping to address things like health inequalities, which is a really important aspect of some of the inequalities happening in Manchester.”

“Over this past year, it’s been inspiring to collaborate with colleagues who are genuinely excited to get involved and support the local community. This has been a really important part of my role, and I’m looking forward to continuing our work together in this next chapter.”