March 9, 2023 - Blog, News

Version 1 Social Value Manager Jude McVitty wins ‘Returner of the Year’ at the Women in IT UK Awards

Image is a headshot of Version 1 Social Value Manager Jude McVitty seated at her desk.

Women in IT UK Awards 2023 Win

Version 1 is happy to celebrate Jude McVitty’s ‘Returner of the Year’ award win at the Women in IT UK Awards 2023. Over the past 9 years, these prestigious awards have recognized and celebrated over a 1,000 women, allies, and organisations across the UK for their outstanding contribution to the technology industry. 

As part of our International Women’s Day Celebrations 2023 we spoke to Jude about Social Value at Version 1, the positive impact it can have in an organisation, its growth in the next few years and how employees can get involved in their day-to-day life. Read on! 

Q&A with Jude McVitty, Social Value Manager at Version 1

Q. What attracted you to Version 1 and in particular the role of Social Value Manager? 

I joined tech through an academy programme specifically for women interested in changing careers, and my mentor from Version 1 was so empowered and driven, she made me want to find out more. During the interview process, I met some great people and I started to feel like I really fit in here, I’m very values driven and that’s a big part of the culture. I started my academy wanting to become a junior coder, get my head down, and make a stable income but the Social Value Manager had so much potential. It was new and not 100% defined, and a unique opportunity to build something special.  

Q. In one sentence, what does a Social Value Manager do?

A Social Value Manager delivers social impact initiatives inside and outside their organisation on behalf of their customers to improve the sustainability and legacy of the business.
 

Q. What does a typical day in the life of a Social Value Manager look like? 

Pretty atypical, through there are some rhythms. I spend a lot of time talking to community organisations trying to tweak our standard programmes to really benefit their service users, updating customers about our progress and future plans, supporting new social value proposals to be included in tenders for future business and updating spreadsheets to try and keep track of it all. I try to allow myself some time each week to try something new, if it is a new programme or a new DAX/database tweak on my dashboard to have the most beautiful slides; as long as it is learning and getting the job done, I’m happy. I also try to spend some time each week researching recent trends in social value and impact measurement, what our competition is up to, and newspapers that focus on social trends. More recently I’ve been getting requests from customers and partners to share our expertise, which is helping.  

There’ll also be whole weeks where I’m delivering workshops in almost everything I know about and juggling (with varied success) everything else. In some ways they’re the best weeks because I get to really focus on encouraging people to expand their horizons. 

A group photo of Inclusion Work programme participants along with Jude McVitty, Version 1 Social Value Manager.

Version 1 first approached Cedar Foundation in November 2021 with an opportunity to devise and deliver a substantial programme of skills for people at risk of digital exclusion.

Q. Why is it important for organisations to have a dedicated Social Value Manager? 

Social Value done well is time consuming. The reason Version 1 is creating programmes our customers want to talk about is that we have someone who has time to put the thought, energy, and experience into ensuring we’re delivering the best impact for the resources available. It is also important to have someone who is tracking and managing the commitments we make to our customers, contributing to a standard level of excellence in everything we offer out to the public sector. 

Q. How do you see the growth of Social Value in the next 3-5 years? 

As we re-contract with our major public sector customers and bring more into the fold, social value is only going to get bigger. My challenge for the next few years is to find out how to integrate what we’re currently doing in communities into our standard delivery model and reduce the cost to the business so we can scale up without reducing our impact. 

A Social Value Manager delivers social impact initiatives inside and outside their organisation on behalf of their customers to improve the sustainability and legacy of the business.

Q. Who are some of your role models? 

Coming from the creative industries my top three role models have always been Mike Oldfield for excellence and individualism, Judi Dench for resilience and class, and Marina Abramović for sheer force of will. I think we’re privileged in my organisation to have a lot of amazing leaders, and there’s people at all levels of Version 1 I look up to for different qualities I am still learning to embody. 

Q. What achievements are you most proud of? 

The failures. They have been numerous and embarrassing and deeply educational. I am proud of walking away with my values intact ready to mitigate, adapt, rework, and deliver no matter what ridiculous oversight I make or bad luck I encounter. I’m also particularly proud of the way we work with our community partners, social value brings empathy, we listen to our partners so we can be effective and above all we are easy to do business with. I get such a buzz out of hearing ‘I love a Version 1 meeting’ before the end of a call with a stressed-out support worker.  

Q. What advice do you have for people looking to work in Social Value? 

I think social value needs people who are ready to be brave, to step out of their previous comfort zone and learn the skills we need to really drive our organisations towards maximum social impact for minimum cost. I bring in a lot of understanding about communities, diversity and sustainability and an aptitude for data and spreadsheets that is indispensable, but I’m still learning a lot of what I need about consultancy and business practices to scale up Social Value with Version 1. Own what you know, admit what you don’t and trust in the search engine. Aptitude beats knowledge every time. 

Q. What are some common misconceptions people have about Social Value? 

 The top misconception about social value is that our customers don’t care. A lot of them aren’t quite ready to understand it totally, but they are always excited to get an update about an initiative we have delivered on their behalf, and they will be sure to give you a prod if the contracts coming up and you’re a bit short on your digital skills hours. The second misconception is that it starts and ends in communities. Social Value is also about the whole impact of the activities of an organisation, how well we care for our team, how we recruit and develop people and ensure that we are inclusive, what we are doing to mitigate our impact on the planet, how our leadership drives and supports our aims and even how we drive change with our customers and suppliers. Eventually, I’d like to be in a position where social value can describe the whole social impact of our organisation to our customers and for our impact analysis to help inform the strategy of our next growth cycle. 

Social Value done well is time consuming. The reason Version 1 is creating programmes our customers want to talk about is that we have someone who has time to put the thought, energy, and experience into ensuring we’re delivering the best impact for the resources available.

Q. What are your favourite books/movies/sports, etc? 

I’m a huge Sci-Fi fan, I nearly named Captain Picard as one of my role models, and consume a fair amount of classic science fiction novels. I love a good dystopian epic like Battlestar Galactica or The Handmaids Tale. I also watch a lot of documentaries. I love all the music genres according to my mood. I have a psych up song for presenting or exams back in the academy days. Isi by Neu! The 1975 version if anyone is planning to look it up.

Q. What are some of your goals in the next 12 months? 

This year is all about spreading the word for me, internally and externally, it’s time to share what I’ve been doing to drive improvement in my own practice and in social value for IT Consultancy. I’m finding myself more ambitious in Version 1 as well so I’m working hard on my personal development, taking on any leadership and business development opportunities to improve my skillset for the next stage of our growth. 

Q. How can employees get involved in Social Value through their day-to-day life? 

It’s really easy to get involved, get in touch and I can get you straight into a session. We have a load that we deliver off the shelf that need next to no prep or if you’re looking to develop some subject matter expertise you can draft something for us around your role and specialism. We also have mentoring roles and opportunities to support VCSEs with advice and skills. If none of that sounds like your cup of tea I’m resourceful, I’ll work out something you can get behind. I think of Social Value as a great training ground for our team members who want to push into a new skill, my volunteers get the same level of support and attention as my participants. They’re my customers too.

I think social value needs people who are ready to be brave, to step out of their previous comfort zone and learn the skills we need to really drive our organisations towards maximum social impact for minimum cost.

Read more about our Social Value initiatives here.
Learn more about Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Version 1

Learn more about our commitment to Social Value