#61 From lawyer to trailblazing social entreprenuer, Bridget Williams founder Bead & Proceed

Bridget Williams joined Purposely Podcast to share her inspirational founder story. Bridget had the courage to leave her career as a lawyer to help solve the world’s biggest problems one colourful bead at a time! In 2019, ‘after two years of sitting on the idea and testing with friends’ Bridget launched social enterprise, Bead & Proceed, which exists to educate people about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and inspire action towards them through creativity. Her passion for sustainability and using creativity as a tool for innovation drove her to launch the enterprise and has made her a recognised SDGs expert, assisting businesses and organisations with SDG strategic alignment and target reporting. Her efforts have been recognised and endorsed by the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark and the JCI Osaka Outstanding Young Person’s Programme. More than 5,500 participants have attended their SDG workshops or purchased Bead & Proceed Kits. Bead & Proceed has grown to offer tailored SDG workshops and ongoing SDG consulting for businesses interested in growing their impact. They work with all types of businesses from corporates to councils, universities, professional service firms, schools and other leading businesses in agriculture and tourism sectors. Bead & Proceed Kit produce kits, it is their foundational product and kick-started Bead & Proceed. The Kit caters to 7 people and serves as a creative activity to educate participants on the SDGs, each person comes away with a 5-beaded necklace, keyring or bracelet that represents the top 5 SDGs they want to work towards. While users paint and make, they ideate innovative way to achieve their chosen goals and have a tangible tool that anchors their learning. Their Kits are SDG aligned and for every Kit purchased, another is donated to a low decile school or deserving community organisation to help spread SDG awareness.