Just Enterprise – Elect Her
We spoke with Hannah Stevens, Director of Elect Her, about how Just Enterprise helped the organisation continue to grow.
What does your social enterprise focus on?
Elect Her supports women in to democracy. We are women-led. By women for women.
Tell us more about your purpose
Politics doesn’t work unless it really reflects and represents communities. It’s time for a different type of politics. We believe the world will be a better place when more women are in power. We are a tiny but mighty team of women across Britain committed to building a world where at least 51% of elected officials are women.
Why did you choose to become a social enterprise?
As an organisation, we felt it was the most sustainable structure for our work.
When did you access business support from us and what questions did you have for your business advisor?
We received start-up support from Emma Ives in January 2022 for 6 months, and since then, we have been in touch with her on an ongoing basis.
Income generation strategy and fundraising were the main areas we were focusing on, but talking more generally about running a start-up alone and having an empathetic ear in Emma to coach me was really appreciated.
How did start-up support help you in your journey to becoming a social enterprise?
We were 3 months into our Community Interest Company (CIC) registration when the start-up support kicked in. The support really helped develop the income generation strategy and articulate in detail some of the programme delivery that we wanted to implement. We are well on our way to reaching our goals and are currently recruiting for someone to deliver the income generation strategy that Emma supported me in developing.
Do you have any advice for someone who is considering reaching out for start-up support through Just Enterprise?
Do it! It was such a fantastic resource. I didn’t know that I needed coaching in that space but so appreciated the investment in me, my leadership and the next phases of our growth.
What is next on the horizon for Elect Her?
We are writing our next strategic plan which is all about scale. We need to reach a much larger audience and are examining how best to do that whilst maintaining authenticity and connection with our community, two of our key values.
Find out more about Elect Her on their website and by following them on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).