Shifting to Ethical Systems
Ethical Project or Catalyst Project? What Community-Led Tourism Teaches About Systems Change
What turns a good project into a catalyst for systems change? Esteban Fernandez Drovetta on community-led tourism, Vanua and who holds the door.
Why I Am Going to Mumbai: JERICA and The Earthshot Prize 2026
JERICA Co-CEO Jules Harrison-Annear, Earthshot Prize Expert Advisory Panel member and Official Nominator, on why she is going to the 2026 Summit in Mumbai, what the Prize means to JERICA, and who she hopes to meet there.
Tourism That Gives Back: What I Learned on the SET Competition 2026 Jury
What can 238 tourism innovators from 74 countries teach us about the future of travel? JERICA Co-CEO Esteban Fernandez Drovetta reflects on his experience judging the SET Competition 2026, the rise of inclusive and community-led tourism, and why businesses that give back can become catalysts for lasting change.
What a Just Transition Asks of Leaders: Who Benefits, Who Decides, What's Left Behind
In episode 41 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear thinks out loud about the distance between a plan and the people the plan is for. How does a commitment made in a meeting room somewhere become something people can actually feel in their lives? And what does ethical leadership ask of us in that distance?
Building the Africa We Want: Why I Said Yes to Nairobi in November 2026
JERICA Co-CEO Jules Harrison-Annear will speak on climate resilience and a just transition at the Reformation Community Leadership Summit in Nairobi on 6 November 2026. Here is why she said yes, and three questions worth asking of any work you lead.
ClimateX and the JERICA Prize: What Early Support Makes Possible
How ClimateX, a 2025 JERICA Prize recipient through Moonshot Pirates, is taking drone- and AI-based mangrove monitoring from a pitch to a field test in Malaysia.
Nobody Made It Alone: Dismantling the Self-Made Myth
In episode 40 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Esteban Fernandez Drovetta takes apart a story we tell so often it has started to feel like a fact: the story of the self-made person who built something from nothing and owes their success to no one.
Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Why People Are Still the Investment
In episode 34 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Esteban Fernandez Drovetta asks where intelligence actually lives in an organisation, a project, or an ecosystem. As our tools grow more capable, he keeps noticing that many leaders trust their own judgement less, and he thinks that is exactly the wrong direction.
Capital That Knows How to Wait: The Conditions That Make Patient Capital Real
In episode 33 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Esteban Fernandez Drovetta moves past the idea of patient capital and into what it actually requires. Not as a philosophy, but as a set of conditions that either hold an investment relationship together or undermine it.
Rest as Resistance: Why Sustainable Leadership Requires You to Stop
In episode 27 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear makes a case that lands somewhere uncomfortable for a lot of us: rest is not a productivity hack or strategic recovery. It is a non-negotiable part of ethical leadership, and a form of resistance against the extractive systems we are trying to change.
How to Identify Funding Opportunities That Match Your Values and Priorities
In episode 26 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear turns to a question many leaders don't stop to ask: when someone offers to pay for the change you're trying to make, what does that actually mean?
The Art of Saying No: How Boundaries Build Integrity and Trust
In episode 20 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear explores one of the hardest things ethical leadership asks of us, saying no, and why getting better at it protects the long-term integrity of what you're building.
Stubborn or Principled? Why Women Leaders Carry Extra Weight in Decisions
In episode 19 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear explores something that comes up again and again in conversations with women leaders and female entrepreneurs. It's not just that decisions are hard. It's that the pressure around them is different.
How Small Everyday Decisions Shape the Business You're Building
In episode 18 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Jules Harrison-Annear explores something that rarely looks dramatic in the moment: the small decisions we make when we're tired, busy, and just trying to get through the day.
Value Driven Leadership and Human Connection at Work: Leading from the Inside Out
“Every person in an organisation holds a form of power: the power to act, and the power not to. The power to name something, or to stay quiet. The power to set a boundary and hold it, or to give it up in small increments because it feels easier in the moment.“
Intergenerational Community Gardening and Regenerative Relationships: What Grows When We Grow Together
“Communities that are growing food together, that have rebuilt relationships across generations, that have a shared stake in a piece of land — those communities make different decisions. They have different conversations. They produce different leaders.“
Decision-Making and Communication in Leadership: How to Lead Clearly in Uncertain Times
“In my experience, the leaders who communicate most effectively in difficult moments are the ones who are willing to say: here's what I know, here's what I don't, here's what we're doing and why, and here's how I want us to stay in contact as this develops.“
Collaboration and Organisational Structure: Moving Beyond the Familiar
“In my experience, the leaders who communicate most effectively in difficult moments are the ones who are willing to say: here's what I know, here's what I don't, here's what we're doing and why, and here's how I want us to stay in contact as this develops.“
How to Build Ecosystems That Don’t Depend on You
In episode 17 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Esteban Fernandez Drovetta explores a tension many ecosystem builders quietly carry:
What happens if I step back?
When you’ve built the relationships, held the vision, and connected the system, it’s easy to feel like everything depends on you. But what if that’s exactly the risk?
The Hidden Cost of “Value for Money” (And What to Do Instead)
In episode 16 of Shifting to Ethical Systems, Esteban Fernandez Drovetta explores a question many leaders don’t stop to ask:
What does “value for money” really mean and who is paying the price?
Behind the pursuit of the lowest cost often sits a hidden reality: exploitation, environmental damage, and fragile systems that break under pressure.