Partnering to deliver access to the high-quality career development support and opportunities that universities struggle to provide.
London, U.K. | 6 January 2022 – In an unusual first move, ExponentialChangemakers Ltd., an early-stage start-up building an always-on, affordable early career development community and platform for women who want to change the world, has selected a diverse group of twelve Gen Z women who reside in the U.K. and the U.S. to its first advisory board – their Changemakers Council.
Over 1.5 million women in the U.S. and the U.K. are annually enrolled in first and second-degree programs in social science-related fields; just over 600K graduate annually. Social science degrees are often viewed by students as a means to gaining the requisite skills and knowledge to pursue social impact careers or entrepreneurship in climate, sustainability, disability rights, global education, and more. Yet career pathways in these areas are rapidly changing, and entry points aren’t always well-defined or documented, making it challenging for job-seekers to understand where to begin and how to grow a career.
Employers in social impact areas often lack an understanding of Gen Z potential and are not as willing to hire or train, instead requiring Master’s-level degrees and/or several years of experience for entry-level roles. With the barriers to entry too high, many recent graduates are forced to choose between accepting low- or no- paying roles in their fields of interest, pursuing additional degrees (potentially increasing their debt load), or forsaking social impact in favor of roles that offer consistent paychecks or sectors with clearer career progression. This is a problem because our world has many pressing social impact challenges that need to be addressed. ExponentialChangemakers hope to upend this pattern.
Janine Mathó, Co-Founder & CEO, former Vice-President of Global Thought Leadership at Pearson, PLC was compelled to start the company to support and inspire confidence in women after observing her daughter’s experience with university career services.
“At ExponentialChangemakers we will help unlock and develop the potential for Gen Z women to drive social and environmental change by sharing the tools, knowledge & networks to successfully enter and navigate the workforce,” commented Mathó. “We will work with industry to transform their approach to early-career development. The Changemakers Council joins us as co-creators and advisors in our pledge to build with, not for, the women at the center of our work. We believe that these talented individuals bring deep empathy and a unique understanding of the challenges faced by aspiring changemakers in their early careers.”
– Janine Mathó, Co-Founder & CEO, ExponentialChangemakers
Councilmember Sophia Yau-Weeks who graduated from UC Berkeley in 2021, shares her experience at university: “While I attended a very prestigious university, there was no introduction on how to build a career in the social sector, although that exists for other industries.” Yau-Weeks now works in Art & Business Development at Creativity Explored through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. “It would have been helpful to sit down with a career coach to learn how to identify and secure opportunities that match my skill set, and fulfill what I’m passionate about. I’m excited to contribute to a community where women, nonbinary, and genderqueer individuals can have these kinds of conversations with each other and with professionals.”
– Sophia Yau-Weeks, Member, Changemakers Council
Ellie Church, who graduated from the University of Warwick in 2020 and now serves as Policy & Delivery Advisor at the Ministry of Justice is proud to join the Council: “Having overcome a fair amount of obstacles, I hope to be able to share my experiences to support and empower other young women on their career journeys towards social impact. I understand how important it can be to have a safe space where you can be yourself, unapologetically, and I hope to help create that space within the Council and the organisation.”
– Ellie Church, Member, Changemakers Council
“We are a small, global team on a mission to accelerate women’s careers from the beginning; the Changemaker Council will be a guiding force for our work,” said Becky Sage, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, former CEO of Interactive Scientific Ltd.. “The lack of career exploration and development experiences contributes to the fact that women begin to fall behind men within the first five years of their careers. There are many tools and techniques proven to support career advancement that are generally not taught in early-career. I wish that I’d had access to these tools and techniques early in my career and so we are looking forward to bringing these to the fore and helping women to invest in their careers from an early-stage.”
– Dr. Becky Sage, Co-Founder & COO, ExponentialChangemakers
ExponentialChangemakers is an early-stage tech start-up developing an always-on, affordable global community, coaching, and early-career support for women who want to change the world; their beta goes into market in February 2022. The company serves people who identify as women—cis, trans, and nonbinary women. ExponentialChangemakers is steered by an expert global team that has led initiatives at Harvard University, the Wharton School of Business, Pearson, the University of Exeter, and UCL’s EDUCATE Ventures. The company recently completed the EDUCATE Accelerator programme to develop evidence-informed products that have a measurable impact on learners. (Note: ExponentialChangemakers Ltd is a company registered in England & Wales, #13507363)
For more information, bios, or interviews with the above, please contact: Dr. Becky Sage, Chief Operating Officer, becky@exponentialchangemakers.com. More information on ExponentialChangemakers and bios for those quoted above can be found at https://exponentialchangemakers.com.