With a background in social innovation, I am passionate about finding impactful ways to make the world better. Early on in my career I was drawn to social enterprise and the way they use business to create positive social and environmental impact. Having worked in the sector for a while, I not only saw their potential but also the challenges and wanted to find ways to help social enterprises start up, grow and create more impact. As Development Director of The Platform I helped build the largest regional social enterprise hub in the UK. I created a social enterprise network, designed and established 3 social enterprise business support programmes, raised over £6 million for the company’s projects, and created partnerships with social enterprise support organisations, businesses, charities and councils both in the UK and Europe which led to significant growth in the sector.

Through this work at the social enterprise hub I was increasingly approached by companies that weren’t social enterprises. Companies that wanted to make a difference but didn’t know how and I became aware of the huge untapped potential that businesses have to affect change. But what was stopping them? Working with and learning from these companies I found that although many wanted to make change, few knew where to start. Of those that did, they often found the process a challenge; struggling with competing priorities, a disjointed approach and a lack of understanding on how to create meaningful impact. I founded Make Impact to empower companies to use their business as a force for good and to make the process clear, cohesive, aligned with business strategy and fun!