Sustainable Impact

About the Book

The world has changed rapidly over the past decades. These changes have made eradicating global poverty more challenging than ever. In a comprehensive guidebook, Laina Raveendran Greene, Audrey Tan and Lizzy Hawkins—three passionate female social entrepreneurs—share their thoughts on the feminisation of poverty where women end up as victims and show that when enabled, women can take on the powerful role of change agents. They challenge us to move beyond the unconscious bias of seeing women as capable of receiving only microfinance loans to viewing women as capable of receiving larger funding, and present data that shows women are good investments.  The authors lead us on a journey of hope where they encourage us to solve problems empathetically; embrace grassroots human-centric solutions; initiate systemic change; support a world of purpose-driven businesses, and help build a new paradigm of capitalism where people and purpose are more important than a sole focus on profit. Incorporated in the book is a careful examination of the old models of charity and donations juxtaposed against the promise that purpose-driven social enterprises hold in eradicating poverty. Sustainable Impact: How Women Are Key to Ending Poverty offers eye-opening insight and practical advice that seeks to motivate everyone to help make a better world and do our part to eliminate global poverty.

About the Author

Laina Raveendran Greene is an alumna of National University of Singapore, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and Harvard University. She is the founder of GETIT Inc., a strategic marketing consultancy based in Silicon Valley and co-founder of Angels of Impact, a network for women social entrepreneurs focused on alleviating poverty. Audrey Tan is the co-founder and CEO of Angels of Impact. As part of her stint in Silicon Valley, she rallied product marketing and business development for Qik.com (later acquired by Skype for $150 million). She subsequently developed PlayMoolah, an award-winning social enterprise that educates all ages on how to build positive relationships with money. Lizzy Hawkins studied history at Cambridge University. She joined the British Civil Service in 2009 and has worked in a range of disciplines that include managing the complex closure of eight large regional development bodies and leading the commercial section at the British Embassy in Jakarta. Outside of work, she has volunteered for a number of charities.