Women who Work for Good
Over the years, International Women’s Day has grown to mean many different things to different people, but the emphasis on celebration never wavers; and we would like to celebrate some of our remarkable female business members who are building giving into their business strategy.
Think of ‘philanthropy’, and you maybe think of the Warren Buffets and Bill Gates’ of this world but not necessarily the Dame Stephanie Shirleys or Amal Clooneys. Women are often absent from the top ‘giving lists’ made largely up of wealthy and powerful men. Yet women are quietly changing the face of giving, caring less about recognition and more about effectively supporting causes close to their hearts through a social and collaborative approach.
Giving is also not just the preserve of the super-wealthy; With women leading or owning over 1.1 million of the UKs SMEs (and hopefully this number will continue to rise), more women are using their resources and skills sets to help create a world they want to live in. We want to celebrate a few wonderful women who do just that via Work for Good:
Sunita Gill | Pavara
A pharmacist by profession, with a career highlight that saw her selected to be part of the medical team looking after the athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Sunita then turned her hand to entrepreneurship when renovating her kitchen sparked a business idea.
“Having designed an open-plan kitchen living space, I found that the sink area compromised the minimalist look that I was trying to create. Fast forward a few years and I am thrilled that we have launched the PAVARA sink tidy.
What has made this journey life changing was embedding a social responsibility into our business. We are proud to be able to support Water Aid through the Work For Good Platform. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to share the good work that our company is doing.”
Zoe Donkin | The Hypnobirthing Place
Zoe has dedicated her business to supporting women in their journey to motherhood. The Hypnobirthing Places runs classes to help women prepare for birth and also donates to causes that help other women around the globe have safer births too.
“A safe birth is the most important thing of all. We are very lucky to have such excellent midwives and doctors and I am most grateful for the NHS.
Yet many women in developing countries do not have access to a safe birth.
I donate 10% of course fee profits towards charities helping provide safer births for women in need. This means I, and the couples I teach, get to do some good. Which pretty much doubles the positive impact of hypnobirthing if you ask me.”
Laura Hannan | Pitch 121
Laura keeps herself very busy working across several businesses, one of which is Pitch 121, where she is Commercial Director. Pitch121 initiates business relationships enabling your prospects to know, like and trust you before ever having a sales conversation and has been incredibly supportive of Work For Good.
“At Pitch 121, our giving strategy is two-fold. In a world where inequality is rising, we want to support charities which are fighting this trend. We believe strongly in giving people with disadvantages a step up, particularly in business.
We also would like our clients to have the opportunity to choose any cause that is close to them, we know this is what will engage them in our giving and help deepen our relationship with them.”
Claire Wright | Claire Wright Designs
Claire is a Graphic Designer and a mummy to two lovely little ones — two jobs she cares greatly about.
After working in the industry for a large branding agency for 13 years, Claire took the plunge to work for herself and created her independent design agency.
“I have tons of experience in branding and packaging, more recently found a love and interest in spatial design — with a bit of interiors thrown in. I have also done corporate identities, logos, and editorial work. With all of my work a bit of copywriting and tone of voice naturally comes in.
My children are my other very important job, so I design Monday — Wednesday (though that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it while I’m prepping dinner on a Thursday).
I’ve been a Work for Good member for a little while now, and the platform is really flexible for enabling small businesses to donate — If I’ve had a particularly good month, I donate a percentage of my profits to a cause I feel strongly about.”
