Get inspired this International Women’s Day 2021

This International Women’s Day we had a chat with female-identifying social entrepreneurs doing great things in the sector. Their organisations are diverse, impactful and truly inspiring – from empowering teachers and students to helping people become trans allies.

Check out their top recommendations of books, documentaries and other nuggets of inspiring content that have helped them in their social enterprise journey.

Nell Byron, Be Her Lead

“I am obsessed with Untamed by Glennon Doyle and have taken every possible aspect of this book quite literally and tried to apply it to my life. One thing relating to my work particularly stuck with me. She talks about how people often view anger negatively – it is particularly unacceptable in the case of women. She says that the things in life that strike up fires of anger inside us are exactly where we are needed most. Anger signposts us to where we will be indestructible change makers.

“My anger about the gender inequity I witnessed as a teacher led me to co-found Be Her Lead.”

Nell is a current student on our Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Trade Up programme. Find out more

Claire Prosho, Claire’s Transgender Talks

“Disclosure is an incredibly powerful and moving documentary. But it can make for uncomfortable viewing because it challenges the viewer to confront how they have been conditioned to think about transgender people. It’s about how trans people have been misrepresented in TV and cinema.

“And Love Lives Here by Amanda Jette Knox is the story of a wife and parent who comes to terms with the fact that one of her children and her partner are transgender, and follows their lives and journeys. It’s a very easy-to-read, moving and relatable story of life and love.”

Read more about Claire’s journey with SSE

CJ Tayeh, Flank

“I carried Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky around in my handbag for most of 2019 – and it wasn’t even my copy! He has so many great lines, but the one that sticks with me – and is at the heart of Flank’s mission – is: ‘Change comes from power, and power comes from organisation. In order to act, people must get together.’ ”

Alice Moxley, Pivot

“I’ve been looking into the work of Walter Segal, the architect, who brought a method of low-cost, self-build social housing to London. [These houses] were built and in part designed by the end-user. This method uniquely equipped normal people with the skills to build their own homes, quickly and affordably. The fabric of the buildings then went beyond bricks and mortar: The community that live there are deeply connected by their shared effort of making.

“There’s something incredibly inspiring about that approach of co-design and empowerment when thinking about social entrepreneurship.”

What inspires you? Let us know on Twitter @SchSocEnt

By Henna Patel, communications coordinator at SSE – follow me on twitter @hennadp