Alicia Teagle is co-founder of Sr2 Socially Responsible Recruitment, founder of Women Rock, founder of Technology Volunteers, organiser of Codebar and investor.
Alicia shares her passion for recruitment, B-corps, tech for good, diversity and inclusion, and of course Bristol.
Episode transcript
[Annie]
Welcome to the Tech for Good Southwest podcast. Brought to you by Arielle, Alicia and me, Annie. Here at Tech for Good Southwest. We're on a mission to build momentum for the Tech for Good movement here in Bristol, Bath and across the Southwest. We are going to be joined by charities, investors, startups and initiatives to share their stories and challenges.
Through these first three episodes, we are introducing each of our podcast hosts so that our listeners can find out more about us. For our second episode, I'm interviewing the energetic change maker and tech for good recruiter Alicia Teagle. Hello and welcome to Tech for Good Southwest podcast. It's winter. It's minus six. And today welcoming Alicia Teagle to the studio
[Alicia]
Morning Annie. How are you? Yep, it cold but um, yeah, I'm wrapped up warm got the thermals on how about you? I am just cold in general.
[Annie]
I’m looking forward to our conversation today. And I reckon that will warm us up because it's gonna be exciting to hear what you've been up to as well. Thank you for your time today. Can you tell us a little bit about your business and a little bit about you?
[Alicia]
Of course, there's quite a few things. So I'll try and keep it short, sweet and snappy. So I'm Alicia. I'm the co-founder of Sr2 - Socially Responsible Recruitment. I'm also the founder of Technology Volunteers, Bristol Codebar, and Women Rock. I'm also an investor and advisor to two Tech for Good companies, one based out of London, one based out of Bristol.
In short, I am a tech recruiter, and I've been doing technology recruitment predominantly in the Southwest for almost 10 years for my sins. And that's that's short and sweet who I am. In terms of the business, Sr2 - Socially Responsible Recruitment, is the first ever B Corp tech recruitment company in the UK with a score of 100.8. We set up the business to be sure community driven recruitment brand. We've been giving 85% of our profits every six months to underfunded charities, again, predominantly in the southwest but seem to be spreading that wider across the UK. So we've donated just over 250,000 pounds and we only started five years ago.
We also really invest into the tech community as well. So we run and host a tonne of different meetups again across the UK. And we're really making a name for ourselves in the market of being the good guys and girls within the recruitment industry and completely shaking it up with a lot of companies now following suit to also give back so a full winning circle but that's me in short I'm sure we'll go into maybe the other bits and bobs I do outside of the day to day a bit later.
[Annie]
Any more that you do outside of the day to day? That is so much and very inspiring. Its really great to hear about Sr2 and how much that you're supporting the charity sector as well and the communities around the areas in which you work, which is really exciting. I'd be really interested in all of the things that you're doing at the moment whether it's Sr2, Codebar or the other initiatives - just tell us a little bit about your experience of tech for good and what it means to you obviously, but also to your organisation in particular to Sr2.
[Alicia] Tech for Good has really boomed over the past few years. Probably in the last five years as a company we just recruit for companies with a tech for good stance so that their impact mission driven, and they're focused, whether that be on health tech, whether that's on environmental, social governance, challenges, sustainability, but I think in terms of what it means it's about having a positive impact on lives - people, communities, initiatives, to try and improve all of that and then also the planet, which is something that I'm really personally passionate about.
It’s ingrained completely throughout Sr2 and the reason why we wanted to be an organisation to really put that stamp force for good. In terms of Codebar to give you a whistle stop tour of that, it's global charity now runs in 37 different cities all around the world. It's a free programme workshop to help underrepresented people get into technology.
Women Rock is a platform that I started four years ago now and it's a blog. It's an amazing place as well for underrepresented folks to share their stories in the hope that encourages someone else to follow their dreams, but also what the amazing companies that we've got in the southwest and further afield are doing to help promote and encourage D&I within their companies. So that if Company X is smashing it on that EDI journey, others can take nuggets of information and hopefully implement it. More than anything. It's a place to get people speaking because EDI is such an important topic and I think it will be for years and years to come in terms of closing the gender pay gap, looking at it COVID And how much it affects women over men for example, and allowing people to really have a voice.
I don't want to go and not not talk about Technology Volunteers because it's such an amazing platform. Technology Volunteers is a platform to connect tech people with charities and support charities with tech projects and is completely pro bono. It's a volunteering platform hence the name, launching in February, Valentine's Day, the day of love. Yeah, it's amazing. We've got just over 1000 volunteers on the platform. We've supported 35 different charity projects, and this year is all about spreading it further afield across the UK.
[Annie]
Alicia you are obviously very passionate about the B Corp community and interested in its link obviously to Tech for Good but we might have a lot of people who have never heard of it before. Can you give us a little bit of an explanation about what it is? And then also how you see it relates to the technology sector.
[Alicia]
Yeah, of course - so B Corp is basically like a stamp of approval that you're a force for good and this is just within the private sector. So it's a nonprofit network helping to benefit all people communities on the planet. And it was last week or the week before there was 1000 B corps now in the UK. B Corp is global, but has 1000 people within the UK, and there's about 6000 companies worldwide. The companies like Lush, Innocent drinks, Patagonia, Sr2, obviously, but yeah, it's an amazing network to say that you're a force for good and yeah, always improving on that score. So our score is 100.8 which is considered outstanding, but it allows you to get to 200 which then you can improve on your B Corp score to go further. It's a pretty gruelling process to go through. But yeah, we're really proud and we want to improve on that score over the next couple of years.
[Annie]
Can you give me a couple of examples. So if I'm a small technology business, and I want to go be a B Corp. Can you just give us a couple of examples of what I'm going to have to think about perhaps to rework within my organisation.
[Alicia]
So I'm definitely not an expert. A couple of things I do know - so your diversity and inclusion so that's you as a business, your supply chain from the paper supply that you use for your printer from where you get your coffee, everything is gone through with a fine tooth comb, the breakdown of areas, I'm not too sure off the top of my head, but it's social, environmental diversity. And you've got to get a certain score in all the different areas to pass a certification and then get your score. Give yourself a year or two to get it because it does take a little while.
[Annie]
It feels like there shouldn't be any other way of thinking about business. Now, given our current context, what I do know is that there's an enormous backlog of people applying to become a B Corp. So definitely get on that journey for anyone listening! You also mentioned a little bit about your commitment to EDI, particularly yourself as Alicia but also within your business. And definitely from the lens of recruitment. Could you just explain a little bit about what EDI stands for? But also ultimately what that context is?
[Alicia]
EDI stands for equality, diversity and inclusion. I've been in tech recruitment for 10 years and when I started my first recruitment company I was the only lady for nine months. So in a very male dominated industry. I set up Sr2 with two men. So again, the only female but one thing that I really wanted to do was create a business that is completely diverse and not just gender. I mean our gender is 50/50 in terms of a business, which for a tech recruitment company is insane, but also encourages different backgrounds, religions, beliefs, and sexual orientation.
We've got everything within the business and allow people to be different and that's created such a fantastic culture within our organisation. I think more companies need to do that, specifically within tech. It is, let's be honest, very white, British, middle class male.
It's very easy for a company to put out a role for a software engineer. The majority of the applications, probably about 99% are going to be those white British middle class men because there's more of them in tech that is that's how it is. But also there's so many reasons that women don't apply for job ads. They think the salary is too high for their experience, etc. People with neurodiversity, they're put off by some of the terminology for example. So I think it is a really important topic for the next generation and the girls that are coming in to their final year studies or even before they're choosing their choices in terms of what they're going to take at GCSE and then at a level and beyond that, empowering them that technology is an amazing industry to go into. There's so many different opportunities within technology, be it designing, being at games development, be it project manager, there's so many different areas, and it's allowing that next generation to be aware of the opportunities that are within technology.
We need diversity within tech companies because we all use tech every single day and it needs to be accessible to the customers. As a woman I can tell when a platform has got women in mind, and that's because more than likely they've got a diverse team. There's so many more things to discuss when it comes to EDI and I'll be on here for an hour.
[Annie]
Thank you for that. I think it's just such a great example of the context of tech for good being you know, being everything from also skills, diversity, inclusion, you know, it's such broad topics and there's so much to explore, but also, we know that there's some great innovations happening within our Bristol community as well as other places and we will be sharing some of those over the forthcoming weeks.
I just wanted to go back to something you said around Sr2 to working with tech for good companies. How do you make sense of that as an organisation when you've got a new client needing to recruit, how do you then match that with your understanding of what tech for good is - for good In what respect? We talked about EDI as well? So I'm just wondering what those lenses are that you put on their business.
[Alicia]
I think it's in terms of outputs and what they actually do as an organisation, their product, for example. So we've been approached by a couple of companies, one of them being I won't say the name but a big gambling company, for example, who approached us and wanted to leverage our brand to attract talent within their teams. That would have been an absolutely enormous client for us as a business. But gambling doesn't fit within our ethos and our values as an organisation and us as founders. So it is companies who share similar values.
We work a lot with B Corp companies that are doing some sort of good within the world and saying that, we're good friends with Tumelo, a sustainable FinTech company allowing people to use their investments to create real positive change, or it could be Elvie, the female Femtech company that is helping women, whether it be breast pumps or all their other amazing products that they use. So it's a company that has an impact and a mission, doing some good that we work.
[Annie]
Is there a sort of set of criteria that you share, a kind of reference point for recruiters?
[Alicia]
We don't, but from day one the people that join us know we don't work with companies that fall within alcohol, defence, gambling and tobacco businesses. Also, ones that don't respect us as an organisation, like a lot of clients, like they want to work with us, and we want to work with them. We are very particular. That said, we kind of set the reference point, they've got to have a positive impact on the world. And that could even be from FinTech or financial services which isn't known as potentially something that's ethical or mission driven. But there are a lot of companies that are helping refugees open bank accounts, for example, that is for good. But yeah, we're really focused on those good companies.
[Annie]
I think this is one of the challenges isn't it with the term Tech for Good. It's like the term technology. It's so broad, it means everything from sort of tangible objects to processes to as you said, it's actually also about ways of working as well. I think that's the important thing, isn't it that we want to share these stories across the breadth of Tech for Good. It's just thinking about technology in a different way, and how it can have an impact.
So coming on to Tech Volunteers, I'm so excited about this, because I've been on a bit of a journey with it as well as through Tech for Good South West. So you're ready to launch in February and you've obviously got volunteers on the platform as well as charities. Can you tell us a little bit about firstly, your vision for the platform, and then thinking specifically around Bristol, which is where you're based. And where this will be focused, I suppose. What do you think the impact might be on the community for us here in Bristol?
[Alicia]
We launched technology volunteers, and the backstory is we give 5% of our profits to charity. And when we met our first charity, and it was Feed the Homeless in Bristol, we got on to a topic of just technology in general. And they said to us, do you by any chance have any web developers? And my answer was like, yes, of course, it's what I do day in, day out. And the caveat to that was, well, we have no money to pay you or pay the person doing this. And we're really looking for a volunteer. So I just popped it on my social channels. And the response was absolutely bonkers. The amount of people within tech who are developers who wanted to give their time to make a couple of changes and improve their website. And then my brain as it does comes up with a different idea every week. So we created technology volunteers, it was all run off email, Twitter and Meetup - but that wasn't sustainable.
We wanted to create an actual platform. And we did a very basic website first of all, and we gained a huge amount of traction, with 1000 volunteers very quickly and 35 projects being completed. But it wasn't scalable, the way that the platform was. So our very good friends AND.digital and Gareth who I'm sure we're going to be speaking to, have rebuilt the whole platform to make it scalable, make it sustainable, and be just a little bit more professional, and hopefully register as a charity next year ourselves. And I think yeah, the plan for it is then to create a mobile app and again, spread it across not only the UK, but globally. The plan is to take it over in the US but our bread and butter is Bristol and amazing charities here that we have supported, but there's so many more that we need to do. And this will always be its home, and where our main focus is on Southwest.
[Annie]
What would you do if you made you waved your magic wand for Tech Volunteers from Bristol? What would you love to see as the impact that Tech Volunteers has had perhaps in a year from now?
[Alicia]
I think closing the digital skills gap within Charities is sort of a main thing and allowing, given the charities if you think about technology, not everyone's technical. I'm not hugely technical myself, but giving people enough basic information so they feel more confident with their technology challenges. When it comes to charities, their time is so much more needed on their end goal, whether that's helping disabled children, whether it's people that are living with cancer.
So I think it's closing the skills gap, making charities' lives just a lot more simpler and automated, you name it, but then also thinking of the volunteers. We've got so many awesome volunteers that are potentially upskilling into a tech career, changing or just coming into the industry and just want to have that extra bit of background on their CV on their application. Say a junior UX designer, for example, this is their volunteer project and they've actually got something that's tangible they can show to a future employer. So it's sort of from both ends and being able to support people in their career journey.
[Annie]
Companies with CSR on their agenda who allow volunteering days have taken a whole project on for a couple of days a year to help charities will be very powerful as well. I think there's going to be a huge engagement there. Is there anything that you think that tech volunteers need from the community because obviously ultimately, it's the impact it is going to have but I guess you're probably always looking for volunteers to support the platform itself as well.
[Alicia]
Definitely, like AND.digital volunteering and building it completely for free for us and volunteers to potentially improve the platform and then build out the mobile app is something that we want to do. Also just spreading the word across the charity sector as well. It can be anything from a charity of two people to a charity of potentially 100 people, every charity is a great charity, but we're not focused on the likes of Macmillan, for example, who have got a lot of funding behind them, and who can pay to employ full time engineers. It's to charities that are really small, underfunded, underrepresented, and really need our help that the focus point is going to be.
[Annie]
I couldn't agree more. And I'm really excited about the platform. I just wanted to finish off a little bit with a question about Bristol, Bath, the area that we're in, and your deep knowledge and understanding of technology skills and how this sector is going. What are your hopes and dreams for Tech for Good in this region. Obviously things like tech volunteers are really going to enable building the digital skills within the charity sector as well. But I guess, what are your hopes for that? Is it more technical businesses with some amazing investment in Tech for Good? What would you love to see over the next year or two?
[Alicia]
100% And I think of any city and I'm going to be biassed as a born and bred, very proud Bristolian if you can or can't tell on this podcast! Bristol is such a diverse, unbelievable community. Our tech ecosystem is unbelievable, but it's also small. People really come together within the Southwest and I think it's completely different to London for example, where it's so big, and there's so many companies, there's so many people. We can really come together to create change specifically within the Southwest.
[Annie]
I would love to know the stat of Tech for Good businesses in the southwest compared to London.
[Alicia]
We'd love to know that stat. I think I would love in the next few years to see more B corps within the Southwest. I know it's a pretty hard journey to go on. But I think we could really push to get our Tech for Good businesses to potentially become a B Corp. And then investment. Next year my focus is going to be to speak to investors. I really want to create a circle of investors, whether that's angels, VCs, individuals, you name it, who really want to invest into Tech for Good, whether that's sustainability, health, tech, you name it. I haven't found a group that's specifically focused on that. And I think it's for the next generation. For our generation, for the future generation, the world's changed so much that so many people are more focused. Look at Greta and her focus on the environment, we need to protect everything for our children and future children. And that comes in the form of Tech for Good.
[Annie]
I love that! I'm going to bottle up all your enthusiasm Alicia as always. And not to mention, all those things that you said that you're involved with is also exciting for the Southwest itself. And volunteering your time here as well to help share the stories of amazing tech figures, innovators, businesses, charities, digital skills that we have, but also where that where the challenges are. That's obviously what we're going to be doing together as well over the next year, which I'm really looking forward to.
Thank you so much for sharing just a little bit of your journey. I think we'll keep coming back to you to find out how some of these initiatives are going and particularly tech volunteers. I think that's so exciting for our region, let alone more broadly the sector. We are really grateful for your time sharing with us today, if you've got any, any sort of last call outs that you'd like to do to the Bristol Bath community particularly?
[Alicia]
I think just say you're amazing! I'm just really proud of the community, the companies, the people that we've got here in Southwest and I'll forever say that I really think that if any city is going to be the most diverse, most mission and impact led, it’s going to be the Southwest and predominantly Bristol being the sort of hub of the Southwest. So yeah, keep being great.
[Annie]
I couldn't agree more. Advocate for all of that. Thank you very much, Alicia Teagle and this is Annie Legge, Tech4Good Southwest.
Thank you and see you next time.