Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation.  While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Beth Clements

Operations Director, ProvenWorks

Reading, Berks, United Kingdom

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences. 

Overseeing and realising our customer success strategy and working with everyone across the team to make sure our customers are supported in the most effective way possible. 

What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?

Collaborating with people from all over the world! I have the pleasure of working with a range of organisations from tiny non profits to huge enterprises and the people I meet along the way always bring a smile to my face! 

We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?

Our team! We all support and encourage each other when someone is struggling or lacking in motivation. Knowing someone is only a video call away when I need support is really reassuring. 

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? 

Breathe! When there are 100 things to do, stop and write down what needs to be done right now. Most tasks are probably not as urgent as you think. 

What does generosity mean to you? 

Someone dropping everything to be present for you when you need them. 

How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share? 

At ProvenWorks we encourage everyone to be more environmentally friendly! I am as eco-friendly as possible with everything that I do at home and that doesn’t stop at work either! We heavily encourage recycling in the office and share advice for how people can save the planet when working from home too. Simple tips can go a really long way. (I’m more than happy to share my own tips and tricks!)

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Smiling! No matter what the day brings, whenever I’m in a meeting whether it’s with a customer or a member of the ProvenWorks team, I will always smile. Bringing positive energy to calls is so important especially when everyone has been working from home and is probably suffering from Zoom fatigue! 

If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be? 

Xavier Rudd – We Deserve To Dream (I can’t help but watch the music video every time I put this song on!) 

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I’ve recently been involved in raising more awareness of opportunities for women in tech by visiting schools to show students what roles are available within the Salesforce Ecosystem. I can’t wait to carry on with that project this year!

On a personal level, my goal is to get better at surfing! You’ll find me chasing the sun whenever possible in my campervan (and falling off my surfboard into the sea!).

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation.  While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Eleda Towle 

President, Triple Mountain

Hiram, Maine, USA

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences. 

As a small business owner, I do it all, from running our store to receiving and processing incoming consigned collectibles, answering customer inquiries to creating and managing our marketing.

What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?

I’m a horse lover born and raised in the woods of Maine, so my favorite part of the business is getting to talk with horse lovers from all over the world. When you share a passion or a hobby, distance means little, and it brings the world closer together in a positive way.

We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?

With all the emotions these last two years have brought people as they hunkered down, or had to work in dangerous situations, many found relief in reviving a hobby they enjoyed when they were younger. They may have set aside their hobby when life got hectic, but since 2020, it became a lifeline – an escape from the worry that brought back memories of happier times. Because our business is also a lifestyle for me, since I’m a collector, too, I welcome friendships from our customers. This can be both a challenge and a motivator, as I have shared some happy moments in their lives and some terrible ones with them by email and social media. I have been kept in the loop as their real horses get ready to foal, and been blessed with photos of the new babies, and also informed when their family members have passed, or they’ve had to move out of their homes. I have cried with some of them, and carry them all in my heart, but I also feel quite humbly honored that they have chosen to include me into their lives.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? 

It wasn’t given to me directly, but it’s one I’ve taken to heart: Maya Angelou said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I use that to guide every decision we make here, since the models we sell (we like to say adopt out) often have an emotional component, and we always want to be conscious of that. They’re not “plastic models,” they often carry a deeper meaning for the collector.

What does generosity mean to you? 

Generosity for me means trying to find ways to be helpful with whatever resources are available to me. Whether that be my time, processing donated models for the animal shelter charity account we maintain; money we donate to Riding to the Top, our “1% To Charity” beneficiary; or effort, helping promote events where collectors can get together to socialize and learn more about the hobby. 

How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share? 

I believe every business has a responsibility to its customers, community, and the world in which it resides, to make a positive impact. For us that means working toward becoming a B-Corp, which inspired us to power our store mainly by solar, helping support our regional animal shelter (we’ve raised over $10,000 for them since 2016), and participating in roadside cleanup, erosion control efforts, and forest management to promote healthy habitats for wildlife here on the mountain.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

I’ve never been described as “a woman of few words,” so ONE word? Nope, can’t do it! Maybe “driven,” or “compassionate.” There’s always a balance to strike there.

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

Last autumn we were named DownEast Magazine’s Editor’s Pick for Best Toy Store in Maine, a huge honor for us, since it was our first time being nominated. The publicity has increased both foot traffic and online sales for us, and we’re now in a position to expand our business! We’ve been a Mom & Pop since inception in 2012, and are now considering building a larger store building / warehouse space, and perhaps hiring someone to help part-time. That’s a huge step, both financially and emotionally, as it will mean “letting go” of some of the things I’ve always done myself, but it’s an exciting thought as well. I still have to pinch myself when I think, “I sell plastic ponies for a living. For a LIVING.” It’s my dream job, and it has grown to the point that it needs to expand. That’s mind-blowing.

Originally posted on GlobeNewsWire

VidMob, the leading platform for Intelligent Creative, today announced that the company has joined Pledge 1%, a global movement of like-minded companies where giving back is baked into their DNA. As part of Pledge 1%, VidMob will pledge one percent of the company’s total equity to VidMob Gives, its 501(c)(3) foundation that activates the company’s mission to evolve creativity for the better with non-profits all over the world. This builds on VidMob’s existing practice of donating 1% of the company’s revenue through a combination of donations, employee participation and its intelligent creative technology and services.

By making this pledge, VidMob is joining a distinguished group of companies in 100 countries around the world that are igniting billions of dollars in new philanthropy. VidMob provides the fastest path to creative that works and helps businesses drive marketing performance with Intelligent Creative technology and services.

“From day one, being a positive force for our entire stakeholder community was built into the foundation of our company. We’ve helped over 100 non-profit organizations create thousands of intelligent ads that have had a meaningful and measurable impact on their efforts. Through this grant, we hope to exponentially grow our impact potential with organizations in need,” said Alex Collmer, CEO and Co-Founder of VidMob. “I am incredibly proud that VidMob has joined an organization that shares similar values, using business as a force for good while creating significant stakeholder value.”

“We are thrilled to partner with VidMob to support and further their efforts to help nonprofits strategically increase the visibility they deserve, expand their resources, and maximize their impact,” said Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%. “By generously adding an equity commitment to fuel their long term social impact, VidMob is a great role model for other companies, helping Pledge 1% to build a vibrant movement that inspires and empowers every company to leverage their assets for good.”

“Pledge 1% aligns perfectly with our company’s mission to further the UN’s sustainable development goals, which are the guide rails to our pro bono offering,” said Burr Purnell, Executive Director of VidMob Gives. “We’re excited to further support the growth of the Pledge 1% movement as part of its leadership program, Builders, and we look forward to helping inspire, educate and empower every entrepreneur, company, and employee across the business landscape to leverage their own unique assets to be a force for good.”

About Pledge 1%

Pledge 1% is a force multiplier and global movement to inspire, educate, and empower every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 15,000 members in 100 countries around the world have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours in new philanthropy. To learn more about Pledge 1%, and how your company can get involved, visit pledge1percent.org.

About VidMob

VidMob is the world’s leading platform for Intelligent Creative that provides an end-to-end solution to help brands improve their marketing results by unifying creative and data. VidMob is the only company in the world to receive a certified creative marketing partner badge from every major social and digital platform. A portion of every dollar VidMob receives is used to fund pro bono creative services for non-profits through its 501(c)(3) VidMob Gives. Learn more about VidMob and VidMob Gives.

Children are some of the biggest victims of climate change, and almost every child will experience environmental hazards caused by our changing planet in the near future (UNICEF). Despite the huge implications for them, children have little power to limit the changes happening around them. A landmark study last year found that the majority of youth experience eco-anxiety and  81% of children who responded said that when they try to speak about climate change, they feel ignored or dismissed (University of Bath). 

Many of us are not just corporate leaders – we are parents and family members. How we do business isn’t just about how we impact the climate; it’s about how we build the world for future generations. As a parent, discussions about climate change can be difficult for a variety of reasons, but it’s critical that we inform the next generation on the issues and lead by example – teaching them how we can live and work more sustainably, especially as we work from home.

If you don’t know where to start, that’s OK! One great resource is NASA’s Guide to Climate Change for Kids. This website provides a lot of useful answers to frequently asked questions about climate and covers themes, like weather and climate, atmosphere, water, energy, and plants and animals, using easy-to-understand graphics and cartoons to help explain things. 

You can also refer to Talking to Your Kids About Climate Change by The Climate Reality Project. This webinar is a roundtable discussion with four leading experts who share their unique insights and best practices for having meaningful conversations about climate change with kids. 

Do you have any advice for other parents beginning to talk about these issues with their children? We’d love for you to share helpful resources on our Climate Action Discussion forum.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Shilpa Sharma

Co-founder and CEO, Flyte

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences. 

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Flyte. I manage sales & marketing aspects of our business while closely working with my co-founder on brainstorming product priorities and planning. As a startup founder, legal and hiring are a substantial part of my job so I closely work with our legal partners as well as coordinate with universities and other agencies to hire the best talent.

What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?

I’m always fascinated by tech and how it is helping every aspect of our lives. By being close to customers, I’m able to gather the latest trends and challenges that our customers are facing. This helps me visualize our product roadmap and marketing strategy. I truly enjoy interacting with our customers and building trust with them to deliver the best platform that can help them build their pipeline faster.

We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?

Past two years have been challenging for everyone and there were repercussions on people’s jobs, personal lives and many other aspects that we can’t even imagine.

In these challenging times, the one thing that keeps me motivated is the passion for what I am doing. In the past two years, people came much closer through technology and there were so many programs that supported startups through online mediums.

We were fortunate that we became part of accelerators such as Founder Institute and Techstars that not only guided us in the right direction but also provided immense support through mentorship from accomplished founders and leaders.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? 

If you strongly believe in what you are doing, keep going! Persistence is the key!

What does generosity mean to you? 

Give the gift of education! Make people self-sufficient!

How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share? 

Things done with passion and grit always make an impact.

Businesses are built with a goal to create something that can solve problems people are facing in day-to-day life. With tech businesses, be it in hardware or software, companies have been able to achieve 30-40% more productivity through automation resulting in higher revenue or extra time to do innovative tasks. Not just the process level efficiencies, businesses are helping economies generate more jobs and building an ecosystem for next generations.

For example, with Flyte sales and customer success teams can save >30% of their time by automatically logging call notes and improving success rate through advanced analytics. Sales teams are the oxygen for a company and by making them more efficient at their day-to-day work, we’re not only helping a company bring more revenue but also engaging their workforce in more innovative tasks rather than spending hours in documentation.

If we think of a workflow from a CEO or CRO perspective, they’d want to understand the direction their organization is heading into. Through a fully integrated platform, Flyte can provide revenue intelligence as well as customer insights that can help them make key decisions on sales techniques, product priorities and marketing campaigns to achieve better conversion.

We promote education initiatives by pledging to contribute 1% of our time towards non-profit organization.

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Fast learner! I have done things for the first time and did it so well that people who were skeptical about my performance in the beginning, appreciated what I achieved in the end!

If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be? 

I like violin and guitar instrumentals!

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I am excited to take Flyte to the next level so I’m able to contribute further towards non-profit organizations. I’m passionate about promoting education initiatives across the globe.

Pledge 1%, a force multiplier and global movement to inspire, educate, and empower every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good, today announces that a growing number of top venture capitalists (VCs) featured on the Forbes Midas List have personally agreed to support the movement, proving the most successful VCs are increasingly taking the time to ensure the companies they influence also have a positive ESG impact on the world:

• More than 20 percent of the VCs on this year’s Midas List were on the board of a company that set aside equity to fuel long term social impact efforts. At the time the 2020 list was published just two years ago, that number was approximately 13 percent.


• That number jumps to 35 percent if individuals who were the lead investor from their firm supporting these companies are included, up from about 17 percent at the time the 2020 list was published.

“While the Pledge 1% movement was founded six years ago, partnering with companies to set aside equity for social impact on the path to IPO is something we’ve been fueling with greater intention and focus over the past two years. The impact can be seen not only on this list, but in the huge amount of corporate philanthropy we’ve been able to unlock together,” said Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%. “We’re incredibly proud of the impact these VCs and their portfolio companies are having. With their support, we’re paving the way for a future state where setting aside assets for ESG and philanthropy will be ingrained in every organization’s DNA.”

Globally, there’s a huge push towards ESG and a more inclusive, engaged business culture. Companies are increasingly having to figure out how to incorporate social impact into their business, especially as it continues to play an important role in talent recruitment, retention, and engagement strategies. With the help of Pledge 1%, the Pledge 1% Boardroom Allies, and their portfolio companies – like AvidXChange, Coinbase, Sprinklr, and UiPath – billions of dollars have been ignited through their equity pledges to fund corporate philanthropy.

Today’s momentum builds on Pledge 1%’s announcement last fall that over $2 billion in new philanthropy has been unlocked for good since the launch of its CEO Equity Playbook in the summer of 2020.

About Pledge 1%: Pledge 1% is a force multiplier and global movement to inspire, educate, and empower every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 15,000 members in 100 countries around the world have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours in new philanthropy. To learn more about Pledge 1%, and how your company can get involved, visit pledge1percent.org.

Wildfires, drought, flooding, and more – by now, we are all familiar with images of the devastation caused by the ongoing climate crisis. If you’ve ever experienced a moment of worry caused by our rapidly changing planet, you aren’t alone. According to the APA, more than two-thirds of Americans have experienced anxiety over the effects of climate change, or what we now refer to as ‘eco-anxiety’. 

While there is no medical diagnosis for eco-anxiety, it is defined by the APA as “a chronic fear of environmental doom” and can include fear of observing these changes and experiencing a concern for coming generations. Some of the symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, depression, frustration, and PTSD.

Eco-anxiety may be on the rise, but so are methods to understand the concerns caused by these events and how to handle them in a meaningful way. In the business world, understanding the impact of eco-anxiety means understanding how to help co-workers or employees who are struggling with these worries. Knowing tools to mitigate this specific stress means being able to take action and help overall employee mental health, which in turn boosts productivity and creativity within the workplace. 

Here is a  list of articles and resources to help manage eco-anxiety for yourself and for others: 

• This article by Medical News Today discusses what eco-anxiety is, how it affects us, and how to cope with it. 

• Refinery29 provides more insight into specific worries caused by climate change, especially parental guilt, generational anger, and policy despair, as discussed with a climate psychology researcher. 

• Organizations like The Good Grief Network work to boost mental and physical resilience around climate change anxiety. Their platform offers a virtual,  community-based 10-step program to help people work toward acceptance and recovery from eco-anxiety and climate grief.

• Finally, Ecoanxiety.com offers several ways to mitigate eco-anxiety, such as engaging with nature and nurturing your ecosystem.

Do you or does someone you know struggle with eco-anxiety? What steps do you take to refocus and recharge in today’s world? If you have resources we would love for you to share them in the comments below or our Climate Action Form.

Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

Jan D’Alessandro

President, Blue J Strategies & Executive Advisor, Lookout Foundation 

San Francisco, California 

What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences. 

President, Blue J Strategies & Executive Advisor, Lookout Foundation. I run a strategic advisory business helping public, private and nonprofit companies scale through strategic partnerships, with a particular focus on building cohesive social impact programs. In addition to my work leading the Pledge 1% Equity Initiative and work with purpose driven companies, Unagi Scooters and Future Fuel, I advise the Lookout Foundation. 

What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?

I love all my clients and most enjoy the ability to work with companies that are committed to giving back to their communities. I am inspired by the deep commitment to giving back that Lookout demonstrates. Lookout joined the Pledge 1% movement with an equity, time, profits and product pledge. I help the Foundation choose impactful nonprofits with which to partner with grants and employee volunteer time in furtherance of their core themes- Women & STEM and Data Privacy and Security. Lookout launched an important conference Day of Shecurity, focused on helping women secure jobs in the cybersecurity industry. The conference now reaches over 1000 women twice a year and is one of the predominant means for helping raise awareness of roles in this lucrative field. Lookout also has an extremely generous employee matching program of $1000 per employee per year. The Lookout Foundation reserves a portion of its budget to address disaster relief. With the matching program, Lookout and our employees joined the Pledge 1% campaigns and contributed over $50,000 to help Indian Covid Relief efforts and over $50,000 to help the people of the Ukraine

We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?

The ability to use my skills and networks to help purpose driven companies give back to the communities in which we live and work keeps me going. 

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received? 

Do What Matters. 

What does generosity mean to you? 

Giving back with whatever resources you have.

How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share? 

Businesses have an enormous responsibility- and opportunity to positively impact the communities in which we live and work. Harnessing the resources at their disposal – employee time, products, profits and relationships with customers and partners is a powerful force multiplier. See above about Lookout. 

If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?

Positive. I see the world with rose colored glasses, striving to see the best in people and situations. My motto is to “Assume Good Will and Spread Good Cheer.” 

If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be? 

“Everyone Loves the Sunshine.” Roy Ayers

What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?

I look forward to expanding the impact that we are making with Day of Shecurity to helping more women receive training and resources, and obtaining roles in the cybersecurity industry. I look forward to helping Pledge 1% unlock another 2 billion in new philanthropy, to helping Unagi Scooters give employees of Google and other forward thinking companies the ability to commute to work in a joyful and sustainable way, and to helping Future Fuel give employers like Salesforce and other forward thinking companies the ability to allow their employees to pay down their student debt faster. 

In honor of Earth Month, we’re launching a Pledge 1% series all around Climate Action!

With the help and support of our members, we’ve developed some of today’s top tools and resources for companies to take climate action in a way that’s sustainable for their business and that’s aligned with their values. Every day in April, we will use this blog to build on these materials to share new case studies from our members, facts and tips from climate experts, and other actionable steps our teams can take today – at home and/or at work – to combat climate change.

We understand that the world is facing unprecedented challenges at the moment.  Unfortunately,  geopolitical tensions are only accelerating an already critical climate crisis. As teams and businesses, taking action has never been more urgent and needed. 

When it comes to the climate, our collective 1%s can have a real and immediate impact. We are so grateful for all that you are doing – please use the Social Impact Forum to share your tools, strategies, plans, and ideas for how we – as businesses and individuals – can combat climate change.

Want to learn more about how to incorporate climate action into your business? Download our