How do you influence change?

I lead an initiative called Women Effect Investments. It is about how we take our investment dollars, the trillions of dollars that are invested globally and move them alongside the billions of dollars that women philanthropists have used to create a world that works for everyone.

What change do you bring about, Kanika, and how are you doing it?

I am currently creating The SoJo, an online tool that supports young people who need help in bringing their ideas for social change into action. Using technology, SoJo is changing the ways users learn and absorb information online. I am creating an interface that places the user (student) back in the driver's seat, giving them the power to dictate their learning journey. I'm in the process of creating a technology that is smart enough to recognize what the user is looking for, and adapts the knowledge to each individual's unique needs, presenting knowledge in a non-linear fashion. 

My Startup Story, by Jo Manuel, Director of the Special Yoga Centre.

Through your own experience, what are 5 tips for building a Charity/social enterprise?

1. Let go and let others do their job well 

A new venture is like having a baby, you nurture it, you feed it and it is totally dependent on you. Then as the organisation grows you need to start to let go and allow others to be a part of its life and advise and guide it. What I have learned as the leader is that controlling everything does not empower your staff and advisors to be able to do what they are good at doing. Good managers make their staff feel empowered and when people feel empowered they are able to reach their potential and do their best. They may not do things the same way that you might but it doesnt mean that what they are doing or how they are doing it is wrong.

Who are you, Sinead, and what drives you?

I am a writer, coach and trainer and founder of 8fold, a social business and a digital wellbeing company that helps busy people work better. I am the author of From Apps to Zen: 26+ Ideas for Building a Business with Balance and the forthcoming book The Business Yogi: How to be Happy at Work. I am passionate about the power of the web to make an impact and to change lives.

In 2011, I launched the Digital Assistant Academy, an innovative project that trains low income women with in-demand digital skills that they use to create their own micro-enterprise at home around their existing commitments.

Lindsey Hall | Real Ideas Organisation

As adults, we often underestimate the ability of children and young people to get to the heart of an issue, to innovate and come up with great ideas, to solve the problem and then turn those ideas into real, practical and sustainable action. RIO (Real Ideas Organisation) is about changing the experiences of children and young people in education and beyond. It is about enabling them to be social entrepreneurs now – when they are 10, 11, 15, 17 – and in the future so that young people aspire to become social entrepreneurs, as well as informed and ethical consumers.

I am one of these people who, if change doesn’t happen often enough, make it happen

The more inner stability one has, the better one’s ability to cope with change, which is not only inevitable, but often, escapes our control.  I believe change is good – it exposes and challenges our comfort zones, inviting us to grow.

I try to keep a vision of success in my head, and however challenging or hard the process is, I “keep my eyes on the prize”, which in my case is helping more poor people to work their way out of disadvantage. Change is much easier when you believe passionately in what you are trying to achieve.

When I was working in private equity (which some people perceive to be a very male dominated industry), passion did not play as big a role in my working practices as it does now.

Sally Goodsell was one of the hosts on Make a Wave PI  in December 2011.

Sally, what are your main tips to Women Social Entrepreneurs in order for them to thrive?

- You have to be the educators in this market.
- Bring the discipline and the proof that your model makes a difference.
- You have got a chance of a lifetime and the opportunities to make a difference in this market place. Seize it.
- Angels find new businesses at pre-revenue stage very difficult so chase any small amount of money you can.

InVenture believes that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to create lasting economic development in under-served communities, and that the best way to unleash this potential is through micro-INVESTING, not micro-loans. With your InVestment of as little as $25 in one of our micro-entrepreneurs, you can be part of our movement! Are you ready to InVest In Good?

1) Who are you, Shivani, and what drives you?

I am the CEO & Founder of InVenture. I believe that every business owner, no matter how large or small, should have access to the same capital, tools and guidance to grow their business and follow their dreams.

Transition to Social Enterprise

Hi Kate, what would be the top 3 areas Local Authority staff need to think about when they envisage to take over a public service as a social enterprise?

The questions to ask are firstly around attitude of mind.

i) Are you ready to move into a world of risk where you have to manage your finances in a way you have never done before ie cash flow and profitability not managing against a budget?

ii) Making sure you have enough money in the bank at the end of the month to pay the salaries really concentrates the mind.

iii) Are you ready for the competition?

AMANDA PALMER-ROYE, Ceo of Eco-Actif Services CIC was born and educated in Sutton, and overcame early difficulties in life caused by family poverty and her dyslexia, to become a true social entrepreneur and a campaigner for social justice. Amanda is a fellow of the Ogunte Make a Wave Pre-Incubator. Here's her story:

"Throughout my life, I have always been interested in people and my passion for them led me to work locally".

In 2002 I was asked to work on a DWP pilot for Eco-Actif, a department of the London Borough of Sutton. This was to work with offenders and recovering drug & alcohol users to help them get back into employment and/or training. As it was a pilot I was able to create a comprehensive, tailor made programme which became one of the most successful DWP programmes in the London South Area.