Disaster WISE

Entity Establishment

What they said.

Zest was a huge support to us as Disaster WISE moved from a research project into a new organisation. There were a lot of moving parts and plenty we were figuring out as we went, and the Zest team worked alongside us through all of it. What I really valued was how practical and flexible they were. They understood what we were trying to build, helped us work through the tricky decisions, and gave the Board the support and confidence we needed to get the organisation up and running.

Liz Moss

Founding Chairperson of the Board

The Need

Disaster WISE was transitioning from a research project into an independent not-for-profit organisation. While its purpose and ambition were clear, the new organisation had no employees, no business plan, limited funding and a newly established volunteer Board.

With two key research team members preparing to exit, Disaster WISE needed to retain critical knowledge while rapidly establishing the leadership, governance and people foundations required to operate independently. The Board engaged Zest to help turn an emerging organisation into an independent, functioning entity, without losing the community-led principles at its heart.

The Solution

Over three months, Zest partnered closely with the Disaster WISE Board, research project team and incoming leaders to establish the foundations for the organisation’s start-up phase.

Our support included:

Designing an initial organisational structure and founding leadership roles.
Delivering a creative, purpose-led recruitment process that resulted in the appointment of two complementary co-CEOs.
Developing a governance and decision-making framework that empowered the co-CEOs while keeping the Board connected to key strategic decisions.
Establishing Board ways of working, including agreed behaviours, practical templates, a competency framework and skills assessment.
Creating performance frameworks for both Board members and employees.
Developing foundational HR templates for the organisation’s first employees.
Supporting the Board to strengthen its governance capability and confidence.
Facilitating knowledge transfer from the research project team to the founding leaders, building ownership and continuity from the outset.
Helping embed a culture and ways of working aligned with Disaster WISE’s purpose and principles.

Highlights

A different approach to leadership: Rather than defaulting to a traditional single-leader structure, the recruitment and selection process identified two candidates with complementary strengths. This led to the appointment of dual co-CEOs suited to the organisation’s purpose, principles and collaborative operating model.
Governance designed for empowerment: The governance framework created clarity around roles, decisions and accountabilities. It gave the co-CEOs the authority to lead the organisation while ensuring the volunteer Board remained appropriately close to strategic and high-impact decisions.
Capability built—not simply documents delivered: Through practical tools, facilitated conversations and hands-on support, the Board quickly strengthened its confidence and capability to govern a new and evolving organisation.

Challenges

Establishing a standalone organisation without an existing workforce, operating structure or business plan.
Recruiting the right founding leadership with limited funding and significant expectations attached to the roles.
Transferring critical knowledge before members of the research project team exited.
Balancing effective Board oversight with the autonomy the co-CEOs needed to lead.
Creating fit-for-purpose governance and people frameworks for an organisation still defining its future operating model.

Wins

Appointed the right founding leaders at a critical stage in the organisation’s development.
Established clear governance and decision-making arrangements from the outset.
Increased Board confidence, capability and role clarity.
Preserved essential organisational knowledge through a structured transfer of ownership.
Equipped the new leaders and employees with practical performance and HR foundations.
Created an initial organisational structure to support Disaster WISE’s transition and early operations
Enabled Disaster WISE to transition from a research project to an independent organisation while retaining its distinct purpose and community-led approach.

More Work.

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