Bristol Woman: Inspiring Enterprise

At Bristol Woman, we are focusing on 3 major strands: well being, leadership and enterprise. Last week, I have put in a bid to RBS – Inspiring Women in Enterprise to set up Bristol Woman Enterprise Zone. RBS is offering grants to help build the capacity of organisations that encourage and support women, who are not yet in business, to explore enterprise. It is an inspirational opportunity!

It was an exciting process as it allowed us to consolidate all the work we do around confidence building for business. The funding will help us to lay the foundation for some exciting work and within a year support at least 50 women to start their business and at least another 50 to develop their existing business further.

Research shows that women lack confidence in enterprise, but when it comes to business, confidence is as important as competence! The funding will allow us to work with hundreds of women in Bristol and boost enterprise confidence. If you want to find out more about this project, get in touch with us: ask-at-bristolwoman.org.uk.

#100Kin100days; #inspiringchange

Why a Community Interest Company

Damien Hirst's 22ft Charity statue was displayed in Bristol. 

When looking to incorporate Bristol Woman, there was the route of making it a Charity. Instead I decided a Community Interest Company (CIC) status is more suitable. It has nothing to do with our objectives, because they are very much social and for the benefit of the wider community. It has nothing to do with the opportunities for funding, because if anything it is easier to get funding as a charity. It has nothing to do with the public perception of a charity, because a charity is currently easier to understand than a CIC.

But it has everything to do with the individual woman and her agency. Bristol Woman was set up because we believe in the power of individual women to change the world. In our work with women, this is about the constant battle between agency and victim in the non-profit sector. “Charity” as a word is very much associated with helplessness, the need for some kind of an intervention to change somebody else’s life. The word itself is the embodiment of white middle class thought. It can at times be patronising.

I was wondering if it is an issue of English Language. I think it’s more about British culture. When I first came to the UK and became familiar with this word in it’s organisational context, I was somewhat surprised. In the US I was used to “non-profit organisation”. The latter somehow offers stakeholders the freedom to decide if they want to be a victim or an agent.

Over the past decade I’ve work with women across continents. Women who have been trafficked, women seeking to balance work and caring responsibilities, women’s rights activities, or women struggling with mental health issues – they all deserve the choice of being agents of their own destinies. This was the foundation for my decision to register the company as a CIC. In the context of my 100 day challenge to raise 100K, this is more of a problem then an asset. But supporting women by giving them the choice to be agents of their own change much outweighs that.

Photo: The statue, called Charity, is of a collection box of a girl with teddy bear and her leg in callipers.

#100Kin100days

One of those 100 day challenges

This week, I embark on a new journey. As I leave my job at Platform 51 (YWCA England and Wales, now Young Women’s Trust), I will be focusing on building and growing Bristol Woman - a community interest company. We have been in operation since November 2013, but I have not had time to focus on the company because of my job.

I’ve set up the company because I strongly believe that individual women can make a difference and inspire – in Bristol, but also all over the world. Three amazing women have joined me on this journey. Together we can change Bristol by providing creative avenues for women to share their stories, running workshops and mentoring schemes which allow women to process, adapt and embody confidence, and supporting women as they unlock their individual leadership potential.