Research by Social Enterprise UK shows that twice as many women run social enterprises than lead small businesses and 64% of the social enterprises run in the UK have ladies at the helm.
Heledd Kendrick, Servane Mouzane and Claire Dove are three women, committed to bringing about a positive change in British society through their entrepreneurial ventures.
Heledd Kendrick
Heledd is the Founder and CEO of Recruit for Spouses, an online job searching platform dedicated to spouses of armed servicemen. Before founding the company, Heledd was a journalist and renowned reporter in the horse-racing circuit.
She is married to a serviceman herself. Heledd says her life changed drastically after marriage because she was able to interact with a completely different part of society – soldiers and their wives.
“All of a sudden, I was meeting wives & partners with all this talent and yet they had given up so much to follow their serving partner around the world”
– Heledd Kendrick, Founder and CEO of Recruit for spouses
Recruit for Spouses works with business Giants such as Airbus and Deloitte and provides spouses of soldiers with talent development programs and specialised online courses designed to guide them in the industry of their choice.
Servane Mouazane
Servane is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder of Oguntê and The Impact Women’s Network.
She founded Oguntê to empower women to make a space for themselves by supporting each other and building a network where each can contribute to the other’s success.
“I have founded Oguntê and the Impact Women’s Network, to prove that women can solve pressing social & environmental issues and create commercial opportunities at the same time, when given more skills and space to do so.”
– Servane Mouazane, Founder of Ugunte and The Impact Women’s Network
With a team of highly qualified consultants, Ogunte delivers customised products and services tailored to the challenges and business needs of women in social enterprises, the professionals working in their eco-system, and organisations who aspire to have a positive impact on women and girls.
Ogunte offers development opportunities through individual and group development programs, mentorship for female entrepreneurs and networking opportunities.
So far, it has helped over 7,000 female entrepreneurs to ‘lead, learn and innovate’.
Claire Dove OBE
Claire has been a key player in the social enterprise movement since the early 1980s and has led the Blackburne House Group since its inception.
Blackburne House is a Liverpool-based organisation working to impart skill and technical know-how to (often vulnerable) women. Their core focus is on education and they offer a variety of courses across the country, particularly in sectors where women are underrepresented.
“We are proud of our achievements and have repeatedly been awarded a grade 1 status and have beeen ranked in the top 10% of educational providers in the country. We want women to be inspired by their educational experience with us and to realise economic independence once they start their chosen careers.”
– Claire Dove, CEO Blackburne House
As the participation of women increases in entrepreneurship, so will the number of female CEOs in the future. The British society might be closer to finally shattering the centuries-old glass ceiling.
Source: Recruit for Spouses
Source: Ogunte
Source: SEWF
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