Charlotte Wright On Finding Your Purpose And Enacting Visionary Thinking

Charlotte Wright is on a mission to encourage a shift in large corporates towards the adoption of more regenerative models and purpose-driven practices.

She’s spent over 10 years developing her social impact, legal and commercial expertise across borders, focusing on the diverse social and environmental risks and opportunities within the fast-paced technology sector.

Within her current role of Head of Purpose for ANZ at Fujitsu, a global Japanese IT company, she’s focused on elevating ESG strategy on the executive agenda, challenging the corporate norms and maturing the capacity of her colleagues to do the same.

Charlotte is an avid collaborator, always looking for new ways to nurture safe and trusting spaces. Motivated by her personal challenges and lived experiences, Charlotte champions bringing diverse people and problems together, identifying common ground and forging impactful, mutual partnerships.

Charlotte discusses digital technology programs led and owned by First Nations communities, and how your 'why' will help you visualise the innovative idea you want to contribute to the world.

Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)

[Tom Allen] - To start off, can you please share a bit about your background and what led to your passion in purpose driven business?

[Charlotte Wright] - This is something I try to reflect on quite frequently, and the reason I’m in this line of work has evolved over the years. My ‘why’ is a result of my lived experiences and how they've shaped my beliefs and values over time.

I'd say from a young age I've been very aware of what was happening around me. I was always hypervigilant to the world around me, probably because I experienced some quite difficult challenges in my upbringing.

I had quite a fractured family experience with a sick mum and separated parents. I took on a primary carer role during that time, and I learnt the value of being useful, engaged and a meaningful part of the community or family unit. I learnt how I could help and support my family during difficult times.

This spurred me to think about how I could build a sense of resilience in what I do. I developed a sense of optimism and ambition through my parents, my mum, and my grandma, supportive role models in my life. They encouraged me to take that courage and embrace it in what I do.

Taking that mentality into my education and professional development, I started studying the social sciences, law, and psychology. Essentially, I was searching for answers about why things were the way they were in the world and why there are so many injustices and challenges which I thought might be easily solved.

I started learning about societal ecosystems and belief systems. I also started developing all my own opinions about the world, which is what you do as a young adult. Ultimately, I decided to pursue a career in law.

After studying, I began to engage in that profession, and it was hard. I struggled with imposter [syndrome]. Being a woman from a low socioeconomic background, I felt like a fish out of water pretty much the entire time.

The way I found worked best for me was working in house, as I felt like I could bring more of the vibe I was looking for within the workplace.

I felt like I could be part of the team and that I could have a deeper sense of connection to the outcome I was achieving that I was not getting from private practice.

This is how I eventually found myself at Fujitsu, which I initially joined in a commercial legal role. This taught me exactly how the world of business works.

I wouldn’t often admit this at work to my colleagues, but I would often in my mind be questioning everything. There were many things about a commercial enterprise which felt uncomfortable to me, but it is very much a part of the world we live in. Like it or not, I felt like I needed to understand how businesses work and why they are the way that they are.

Throughout that time, I settled into this space and grew my skills, but I also started doing a lot of work in the community side of the workplace.

I joined various diversity, equity, and inclusion working groups while leading several engagement initiatives. I also started working in the space of solutioning for social issues through technology, and that was all back in the UK.

It was at this time I received an offer to come and work for Fujitsu in Australia, which was super exciting. It presented a whole new chapter and adventure for me. It was a turning point in my career, so after a short time of being here, I learned about First Nations peoples, which I had never learned about before.

I began to scratch the surface of this country's dark history, and I just knew there was so much that needed to be done. At the same time, in a very different light, I was also blown away by the sheer beauty of Queensland, this new place that I called home.

It was just so perfect and amazing, I felt an immense sense of pride to be able to live and work in this place, on this country.

That's when I started stepping up the deep work that I've been doing around social and environmental impact. I decided (and it was probably a bit brave) to ditch my legal career. I advocated at work that I would like to join the sustainability or ESG team, which was just one person at that point in time.

I got my managers to agree to allowing me to work into that space in a part time capacity, which was a good thing initially because I didn't really know what I was doing or why I was doing it. It just felt like the right move and the right thing for me to be doing.

At the same time, while I was still working in my legal role, I was also providing much more guidance and raising concerns around the ethics of AI. I was also helping to bring the right education and framing around the use of technology in society.

What I didn't realise was I was becoming the go to person at Fujitsu for all things to do with responsible business and how to do things the right way.

I learned very quickly through osmosis, colleagues and mentors, and I was propelled by what we're seeing now with this wave of corporate consciousness around the social and environmental impacts they have.

Being in a values driven organisation has propelled me, but fast forward five years to where I am today, I now lead the team I was once a new member in, and this is a team of five people that is thriving.

My passion for purpose driven business is still very much the same today as it was for my younger self. I feel the best when I'm making the most positive impact possible, changing things that I see as not being quite right, or advocating for others, and I couldn't be in a better role to be able to do these things.

As the Head of Purpose for Fujitsu in Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia Pacific, can you tell us more about the work you're doing and the projects you're involved in?

I'll briefly indulge in sharing a little bit more about Fujitsu, because I feel like not many people do know our brand too well. To give you some context, at Fujitsu, we are a global IT company. Our global purpose, set by our president or CEO Takita San, is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation.

Our vision is to become a net positive technology company by 2030. Now that is huge, so to reframe that slightly (in everyday language), the aim is to generate trusted and innovative technology that will be adopted by society because it positively contributes to a sustainable outcome and reduces harm to people.

These are huge lofty goals, and the ambition is admirable. It is a big reason why I've worked at Fujitsu for such a long time, and it was also the key reason why Graham, our CEO in Australia and New Zealand, established the Office of Purpose. He established the Office of Purpose back in 2018, and this role and team is essentially here to elevate, champion, and bring this vision to life.

The team is a multidisciplinary team of sustainability and social impact experts. We report directly to the CEO and represent voices that are probably typically excluded from corporate decision making to influence the shift towards a regenerative business model and a model which is trusted by society.

What this typically looks like varies quite dramatically from day to day; it's probably one of the most diverse roles in the organisation and it certainly keeps me on my toes. Some days our work looks like working with leadership to set the strategic direction and goals for the company to ensure they're align with sustainable development.

We’re looking at things like First Nations engagement and employment strategies, decarbonisation and circularity investment, and establishing meaningful and intentional community partnerships.

This involves spending time with our teams and communities on the ground, where on a day-to-day basis we are working through issues and looking at where we’re best placed to solve issues through innovation.

We are constantly relaying our progress back to stakeholders within the business, and it’s a circular model and continuous journey of learning.

What are some of the most important traits you’ve observed in impact led leaders you've worked in this business for good space?

I'd like to start by saying that impact leaders are some of the most versatile, dynamic and just straight up impressive individuals.

It is such a challenging space to work in, and anyone who steps into the space I feel have developed a well-rounded approach to leadership, but also life as well.

They're the type of people who you want to surround yourself with, and they are certainly the people who you want in your corner when you're trying to establish a business.

I know many impact leaders with so many amazing traits, but I think the key to enabling and driving positive change effectively is knowing your why. Having a clear sense of your purpose and direction is a non-negotiable for me.

This is the thing that will get an impact leader through the tough times when they’re challenging the status quo, making difficult decisions, or experiencing setbacks.

Being able to demonstrate visionary thinking through your why is crucial. You can not only have a clear vision for the future, but you need to be able to articulate that in a clear and compelling way to others around you. That's what inspires others to join you on your journey and build momentum.

I think you don't have to be on a team to be a leader, you can do so much with your words, your energy, and how you articulate your vision for the future. This impacts so many people around you if you're able to articulate this in a compelling way.

I would say another key trait would be to be able to have empathy for others, so understand and connect with the needs and experiences of those who you're trying to help.

It helps you design solutions that truly address the problems you're trying to solve, and this goes hand in hand with another key trait, collaboration. I certainly do not have all the answers, and I'm still learning all the time.

My ability to engage with diverse stakeholders is what's going to help me get to where I want to be. It means engaging with communities, governments, and corporates; they all have something so valuable to contribute and it can amplify the impact and foster a sense of a shared purpose and a shared vision.

That's how we can build the momentum and create the movement we’re looking for.

Where are you seeing key opportunities to help take the business for good movement mainstream and make it business as usual?

I might answer this from my experience, which is maybe different to some of your podcast listeners. In my role, I'm trying to re-engineer a large corporate entity as opposed to scaling a smaller business that has already been designed to be purpose driven from the core.

The opportunities I see are in bringing those two worlds together, things like creating a shift in demand. Where there is demand, there will always be business or an opportunity, and that's how large organisations like Fujitsu have scaled.

The ability to generate that shift of preference for products and services that align with the right values is the most critical driver in my opinion.

Education and awareness for customers and consumers is key, so the amazing work you do on this podcast is key. If you have a platform, you need to use it. Business will absolutely change if their customers are impacted, that's my belief anyway.

In the same vein, you should choose carefully who you work with. There are so many opportunities out there, so you can be selective. I spend a lot of my time with our organisation proving to different stakeholders in our organisation that we can deliver the solutions we deliver today.

For example, we can deliver data and digital platforms to First Nations land councils and help them make informed decisions around land and species management while helping them to participate in the nature capital market.

We can get paid whilst doing that because we're part of an actual ecosystem generating revenue, and it's so easy and simple to do. That's another way we can absolutely scale the for-purpose work we're doing.

There are so many opportunities for collaboration between smaller for good businesses and larger corporates. Larger corporates have the capital and resources, and partnering with values aligned social enterprises and impact driven start-ups is such a missed opportunity.

There are far more agile ways of thinking outside the box we could be doing in this space. We could be moving away from philanthropy and more towards impact investing and partnering.

We have several small partners we work with that are start-ups and small businesses run by diverse people from diverse backgrounds, and we're just there to provide engagement and ongoing support.

We have no pressure or expectations, it's all about collaboration and helping people draw on the resources we have (that we almost forget that we have sometimes).

It’s about how we can share those with others who are on the same journey and looking to make a difference.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've come up against in your work? How have you gone about tackling those challenges?

Challenges are a part of everyday life for sure. I think without challenges you wouldn't have any substantial wins as well. You need to be solving a challenge, so I like challenges.

I'd say one of the biggest challenges I often experience in what I'm doing is probably resistance to change. People often say, "we do it this way and it's always worked," or " if we do it that way, it might be more expensive, harder, or it will distract us from delighting our customers.” Simply put, this is a challenge of creating cultural shifts.

At the Office of Purpose, our strategy to deal with this is to tie everything we do back to living our values and how we want to show up in the world. It's quite easy for people to forget work is an extension of what you do and who you are outside of the workplace, so help people understand how work is connected to showing up for our loved ones, family, friends, and communities outside of our workplace.

It helps people realise they can create change that impacts on society in both negative and positive ways, so they can make a choice about how they want to contribute to society as an individual.

Also, it’s important to have commitment from leadership. Change starts from the top, and when people within an organisation see that their leaders are committed, it does set the tone. This is not just when we’re talking about change; this is about walking the talk.

It’s important to us that we have our executive team spend time in communities undergoing cultural competency training and demonstrating their commitment to our values in all the things they do.

Engagement is important as well, so being able to share education and ideas to drive innovation is important. People should know how they can contribute, obtain and share their knowledge and experiences, because we're stronger together.

If you have a workplace that's conducive to innovation, ideas and sharing, then also being able to have open conversations is important.

In the same vein, once people do come out and decide to share, create and be part of that impact journey, how do you incentivise and recognise them for their efforts and what they're doing to drive positive change?

There are a lot of reinforcement and motivational techniques you can use and showing people that you’re grateful for what they've done or how they've contributed is important.

What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across creating a positive change?

I'd love to share a project we've been working on recently that I'm personally connected to, and it embodies positive social change in the technology sector. It's the creation of the first of its kind First Nations Digital Service Centre in Cherbourg, Queensland.

This was a cool project that started two years ago, we're now coming into the third year of the pilot program. Supported by Queensland government's Deadly Innovation strategy, the service centre is designed to boost economic development for First Nations Queensland communities, particularly in the Cherbourg community.

This pilot focuses on boosting economic development through digital skills training, and most importantly, providing employment opportunities.

For those who don't know, Cherbourg is an aboriginal community about 260 kilometres Northwest of Brisbane. It's on Wakka Wakka country, and it was originally established as a community through a government led mission to segregate First Nations people from European settlers.

It is devastating this led to people being forcibly removed from their families and relocated to Cherbourg. However, despite this, Cherbourg has developed a strong sense of community, and I love that they have a motto of “many tribes, one community”.

I love sharing my time and having conversations with people in this community as often as I can get there. Cherbourg have been on their digital transformation journey for a while; they use different technologies in their waste management facilities, and they are very much looking for new opportunities in this space.

The opportunity was presented to us to partner with the community on building the Digital Service Centre. We wanted to help identify new ways of bringing opportunities to life within the community. It’s a thoughtful and respectful partnership between the Aboriginal Shire Council and community.

They are the owner of the centre. The Queensland Government through their Deadly Innovation program is only a partner. At Fujitsu, we were able to contribute primary intellectual property training and hardware while also providing actual opportunities for people to be part of our broader ecosystem to deliver services to our customers.

TAFE Queensland, our other local education provider, also houses the centre, so that was a fantastic opportunity to work within the resources the community already had. Australia Post is a supportive customer of ours, and as part of this they leverage services from the Digital Service Centre.

I love this model mainly because it’s one of self-determination. The Service Centre is owned by the community, and we are a partner who helps them grow their capabilities and deliver services to their customers. It's important that this self-determination model exists for the long-term economic participation of our community, which allows them to take it where they want to in the future.

We're entering the third year of the pilot. The Service Centre has been such a huge success and a testament to the leadership of the community and how hungry they were for having this opportunity on country.

They've won several awards and served as a blueprint for other communities, so there are similar models popping up in Palm Island and various other places around the country.

It's creating this movement of businesses in First Nations communities, because if digital services can be provided to customers from anywhere in the world, why can't they be provided by a First Nations community? It's a no brainer when you think about it.

The community continues to grow, flourish and thrive, and it's amazing to see. We have welcomed six new agents to our team who works with Fujitsu, but the Centre also has multiple customers from the Queensland Government and other corporate entities.

They're taking on new types of work and growing however they feel suits them best as a community. They’re continuing to develop their digital skills and ability to participate in this digital economy literally year after year.

At Fujitsu, we've dramatically increased our talent pool for these services, so our customers are delighted we can provide such a fantastic service to them and be making a difference to communities they genuinely do care about.

To finish off, what books or resources would you recommend to our listeners?

I want to recommend a book I received from the Impact Boom Reignite Retreat book swap. This is also a plug for the retreat, because it was amazing. For any listeners who haven't heard about the impact leaders retreat, you should check it out! I was gifted a book which was just incredible called Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life by George Monbiot.

I loved it, probably because that's a real gap in my knowledge. I'm not super scientific by professional background, so it taught me a lot and it conveyed the challenges we have around conventional thinking, rewilding and the process of restoring natural ecosystems.

You should read it for a few reasons, and I thought it was super innovative and supported by scientific discoveries and practical examples. I also thought it had an engaging narrative, I love the sharing of personal stories and adventures. It gave me lots of interesting ideas and concepts to think about, so that's a recommendation I would make to the listeners.