Selin receiving her award in Venice

Exeter alumna named as a next generation entrepreneur

Exeter alumna Selin Yigitbasi (Business and Management, 2013) has won the FBN NxG Lombard Odier Award for 2018.

The award was created in 2009, by the Family Business Network (FBN) and Lombard Odier, to celebrate and support outstanding entrepreneurial projects initiated by the next generation of family business owners.

Selin, who is the fourth generation at Yasar Holding A.S, is also the founder of Goodsted, a platform for individuals and organisations to volunteer their skills or donate products and spaces to non-profit social projects.

Selin said: “Goodsted provides a solution for various groups: social entrepreneurs and organisations, especially smaller ones, who need reliable help for their non-profit projects; businesses who need a hassle-free way of managing and tracking their community engagement and skill-based volunteering schemes; and youth who are looking to gain experience and develop skills to become more employable. ‘Sted’ or ‘Stead’ means ‘place’, so the word Goodsted stands for a place for doing good. It’s a platform for communities to collaborate for social impact.”

Selin decided to set-up Goodsted after seeing the struggles surrounding both receiving and providing in-kind support to social projects. She also observed a desire for companies to involve their employees in volunteering but not having a tool for choosing skill-based opportunities or measuring the impact of programmes.

“In the past couple of years, I’ve gone through a great shift in my career path - from a graduate wanting to climb the corporate ladder pursuing branding and marketing, to a social entrepreneur determined to use my time and skills for the good of our society.” said Selin. “I was inspired by how technology helps us enhance our lives, and thought there should be a better way to collaborate and share resources to achieve social progress. I saw many platforms where change makers could raise money for their projects by going on runs or taking other challenges, but there wasn’t an easy way that people could get involved and use their skills for social projects. My research also showed that being personally involved in social projects can help create positive change in physical and mental wellbeing, and create more peaceful and helpful societies.

“During this time I met Jake, who had a passion project to start a Civic Makers craft space in his local neighbourhood. Instead of asking people for money, I decided to try to help him get non-monetary support from individuals and organisations around our local area. I created a webpage to display his project, helped him gather volunteers, product and space donations through this page to create engagement, and quantify this non-monetary value in monetary terms to show the value he raised, as well as collecting data and feedback to have evidence about his impact. We ran a two-week workshop where we helped students gain essential skills, and for experienced mentors to volunteer. Throughout this experience, I also had a chance to meet with companies who were interested in the idea of a platform which can help them track their community engagement and provide more empowering volunteering schemes.”

The platform itself aims to benefit a few of the UN Global Goals targets such as; increasing health and wellbeing; increasing tolerance and inclusion; and decreasing youth not in employment, education or training. Selin plans to work with universities and other organisations to help measure this social impact and would like to encourage more businesses and individuals to become aware of the benefits of community projects. 

Selin pitched her project to over 500 family business leaders at the FBN 29th Global Summit in Venice, along with other finalists, and was named the overall winner

She said: “I was really excited when my name was announced. I was already proud about the project I have been working on throughout the year, but thanks to this award and the summit, we now have even more individuals and companies excited to be able to use Goodsted platform, and wanting to become our early members.”

Selin has fond memories of her time at Exeter and is certain that her experience at the Business School helped her to build her entrepreneurial skills and give her the confidence to start her own business.

“The Business School helped me learn the building blocks of business, as well as giving me opportunities to take part in real-world activities and work closely with businesses. For example; taking part in founding the Institute of Directors’ student chapter at the University, leading in the steering committee, organising events and networking with local businesses.” she said.

“As well as a great education, student experience at Exeter is also priceless. I was active in the Volleyball Club and volunteered to coach the beginner sessions when I was in my final year. Preparing drills, helping students get better at playing volleyball, amending my style of teaching by observing and taking feedback was very valuable for me. I believe the combination of education and social experience gave me the crucial skills and the confidence I needed to embark on new challenges after university.

“All of these experiences, added to who I am today, and I’m so thankful that I chose to go to Exeter.”

Selin is preparing to launch her platform in the new year and anyone interested in being part of the earlier communities can subscribe through the website or email Selin on selin@goodsted.com.

Date: 5 December 2018