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

I am a designer and teacher incorporating indigenous knowledge into sustainable design. My exploration is around finding ways in which design can support sustainable life habits that come from a deep sense of participation. I run S-SENSE-DESIGN , an active sustainability design studio, promoting various projects with companies, non-profit organizations and social groups. I teach sustainability design at the social-environmental design study program at the Faculty of Design at HIT, Israel. And lecture regularly at conferences and lead workshops around the world touching upon various aspects of design for sustainability. And I am a TEDglobal fellow 2010-2011.

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.