Sitting down to write this feels a bit surreal.
Seven years ago, I definitely wasn’t visualising what Products of Change would look like in 2026. Truthfully, back then, I was just hoping a handful of people would think the conversation was worth having in the first place.
At the time, sustainability wasn’t baked into most job descriptions. For almost all of us, it was something tacked onto the margins of our day jobs – squeezed in before work, after hours, over lunch breaks, or on the train home. We gathered simply because we cared, grounded in a shared hunch that if we opened up and pooled what we knew, we’d all get further, faster.
Looking back, that organic momentum was pretty remarkable.
People often ask what I’m most proud of over these last seven years. I could talk about the framework tools, the working groups, the educational resources, the reports or our conference. But if I’m honest, none of those top the list.
What I’m proudest of is this community. Products of Change was never really built by us – it was built by people.
It was built by the people willing to ask the awkward questions when they didn’t have the answers. By those who shared an idea just to help a peer out. By the people brave enough to admit when a project flopped, saving others from making the same mistake. And by everyone who quietly introduced colleagues, opened doors, and cheered each other on behind the scenes.
Reflecting on seven years of POC, I realised I don’t have a list of seven achievements. I had seven thank yous.
- To the early believers: Before there was a formal network, there were individuals who carved out time for a topic that wasn’t on their job description. You believed this industry could do better, and your confidence gave others the green light to jump in.
- To those who chose collaboration over competition: The generosity here still blows me away. Retailers, brand owners, manufacturers, and solution providers – many of whom compete on paper -continually share their playbook. You recognised early on that when one of us moves the needle, the whole industry wins.
- To the internal champions: Some of our biggest wins never happened on a stage or in a webinar. They happened quietly when you took an idea back to your desk, started a different conversation with a supplier, or challenged your team to rethink a process. That’s how real shift happens.
- To everyone who shared what they knew: Whether you spoke on a panel, jumped on a podcast, contributed to a working group, or just swapped advice over a quick coffee—those moments directly helped someone else solve a problem.
- To everyone supporting our model: Remaining a non-profit has always been non-negotiable for me. Every membership, ticket, and pound generated goes right back into the engine—funding more research, better tools, and more opportunities to connect. You build the community, so we reinvest right back into you.
- To those who pushed us: You asked the hard questions, held us accountable, and expected more from us year after year. POC is infinitely better because you never let us settle for “good enough.”
- And finally, to everyone here today: This is our seventh POC Conference. When we held the first one, I don’t think any of us imagined what it would become. This isn’t just another conference: it’s where friendships are renewed, new partnerships begin and ideas become action. Once a year this incredible community gets to be i the same room. That’s something I’ll never take for granted.
So if you ask me what seven years of POC comes down to, it isn’t the reports, the frameworks, or the platform.
It’s you. It’s the people who gave their time, shared their lessons, brought their businesses along, and proved that real progress doesn’t belong to a single company – it belongs to a collective.
Thank you for believing in this seven years ago, thank you for shaping it today, and thank you for making Products of Change so much bigger than anything I could have built alone.
I can’t wait to see what we tackle next.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Helena and Team POC
