Kate Glantz is a rebel with a cause. She's used her need to create positive change as a homing beacon in her life, and it has led her on some amazing adventures! Kate's lived in rural Tanzania, worked for the Peace Corps, quested to end malaria, and launched a startup with global good at its core. As Claudia and I formed our dream guest list for Vehicles of Change, Kate was at the very top.
As a global policy developer, Claudia saw Kate as the epitome of combining international development and entrepreneurship. She has met many international development professionals throughout her career, but no one like Kate. Kate shared her magic recipe to be an outstanding international development professional - You need to be able to look outside your international organization lens, explore what other industries are doing and how you can merge all of the processes together.
What struck Claudia most during our interview was Kate's understanding of how to build capacities in her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. After returning to the United States, she mastered something many international development professionals fail to do; she found a way to continue to do good by building a business.
"Don't ask for permission." - Kate Glantz
As an entrepreneur, I was curious how Kate could leave the freedom of running her company, Heartful.ly to become an employee. The answer of course led back to her drive and capacity to create change. Taking the role as Mid-Atlantic Marketing Director for Lyft, allowed Kate to leverage her skill set/mindset on a much larger scale. Kate has paved the way for Lyft community grants in D.C., which has grown into a $350,000 initiative to help non-profits across 30 cities in its first year.
How can you learn from Kate's Journey?
Look outside your community, take a risk and become a Peace Corps volunteer. It will change the way you see yourself and the world and you will be able to learn what true capacity development means.
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Build a company that creates the change that you deem necessary and missing from the world. Entrepreneurship is a fantastic vehicle for creating positive change.
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Find a way to use your passion and skills as an employee to help your company create positive change on a larger scale.
Watch Kate's full story spanning her time living in Africa, questing to end malaria, building a startup, and now creating change at Lyft in Episode 1 of Vehicles of Change!