220. Ending Global Poverty with Dignity + Entrepreneurship: The Mission of The Adventure Project - Becky Straw
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Overview
Meet (Becky) Straw. This tenacious social entrepreneur is the co-founder and CEO of The Adventure Project, a nonprofit movement “adding venture” capital to empower entrepreneurs in developing countries. This Diane von Furstenberg People’s Voice Award for female founders and recent recipient of a $1M bitcoin donation is chatting with us about creating movements that marry good intentions with measurable impact.
💡LEARN
-Overview & impact of The Adventure Project
-Why global funding of women & girls is in crisis
-How job creation is ending global poverty
-Story of a Haitian woman's resilience that became a symbol of this nonprofit's rise🇭🇹
Today’s Guest
Becky Straw, Co-Founder and CEO, The Adventure Project
“We forget that people want to save themselves and their own families, and they deserve the opportunity to work.”
Episode Transcript
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Episode highlights
Becky’s story and journey to where she is today (4:00)
Overview of The Adventure Project (9:45)
Ethical storytelling (14:00)
The Adventure Project’s model and mission (17:00)
The Impact of COVID on women and girls around the world (23:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Becky’s life (33:00)
Becky’s One Good Thing: Make sure you are taking care of the people around you. (41:00)
powerful quotes
“How can we just make sure that our money is doing the most good.” -Becky Straw
“There are so many organizations that are drilling wells, but ⅓ of the wells are broken. That is a huge global problem.” -Becky Straw
“Every person on our website, we know their name and story and they have signed a waiver that we are allowed to share their story.” -Becky
“Taking time to do those things ends up in the long run creating a product and stories you are so proud of.” -Becky
“People appreciate being heard, and supporters appreciate that level of storytelling.” -Becky
“The number one dream of people around the world is a good job.” -Becky
“We forget that people want to save themselves and their own families, and they deserve the opportunity to work.” -Becky
“It was heartbreaking to go back and see broken wells. We become so passionate and such good marketers that we forget about longevity and sustainability as our most important benchmarks.” -Becky
“I saw their passion and their heart and their leaders had these phenomenal ideas, but they lacked a lot of the resourcing to scale.” -Becky
“50% of our organizations are women-founded which is important to us. They are providing training and jobs to people in their communities.” -Becky
““A quarter of a million children died last year in 2021 from starvation in East Africa.” -Becky
“You see so many parents who are trying to do the best they can. With COVID hitting us so hard, we need to recognize that all of those things are affecting people around the world who are making less than $2.00 a day.” -Becky
“We realized a name for the jobs we were creating was essential workers.” -Becky
“As we talk about scale for us it’s about being brave.” -Becky
“Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to sell the shiny thing to our donors. If our needs are so basic, then we need to be talking about that. It is our job as nonprofits to storytell that need.” -Becky Endicott
“I’m so grateful I have emotions. I’m so grateful that I still feel really heartbroken about the things I’ve seen. That wakes me up in the morning.” -Becky
“People are going to gravitate towards helping.” -Becky
“When you’re asking for help, there is people that come out of the woodwork to make it happen for you.” -Becky
Connect with becky and the adventure project
Website / LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
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