Unleashing your potential by giving back
Our focus for this Season is on ‘Getting to the Top’ and I’m delighted to welcome Manda Lakhani as my guest. Today we are bringing you this special bonus episode with The Hunger Project UK on unleashing your potential by giving back.
A big thank you to Gail Morgan Style for sponsoring this season. Focusing on mindset, colours, style and wardrobe management, Gail has inspired me and thousands of other women to increase their visibility, impact, and influence by reducing wardrobe overwhelm and confusion. She truly is a master of her craft and completely understands how the ‘right’ clothes can immediately increase your confidence and credibility. Gail Morgan Style is offering our listeners 15% off all colour analysis sessions, and any of her other styling services, when you reference this podcast. To find out more, call 01442 262696 or visit www.gailmorganstyle.com.
About this episode
Our focus for this Season is on ‘Getting to the Top’ and I’ll be talking to some incredible women and experts from around the world to share their real-life stories, advice and tips, to inspire you in your career.
Today I’m excited to welcome one of my mentors, Manda Lakhani, as my guest. Manda has been an incredible support to me over the years and is also a board trustee and acting CEO of The Hunger Project UK. She’s joining me today to bring you this special bonus episode on unleashing your potential by giving back.
Resources
Manda Lakhani: Connect with Manda on LinkedIn.
Unleashed Women: Unleashed Women is a powerful global movement empowering women to end hunger. Visit www.thehungerproject.org.uk/unleashedwomen.
The Hunger Project UK: The Hunger Project works to end hunger in Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Visit www.thehungerproject.org.uk/.
Gail Morgan Style: Gail Morgan Style is offering our listeners 15% off all colour analysis sessions, and any of her other styling services, when you reference this podcast. To find out more, call 01442 262696 or visit www.gailmorganstyle.com.
Episode transcript
Joy Burnford: Good morning Manda and welcome to The Confidence Conversation.
Manda Lakhani: Thank you, Joy. Good morning. It's amazing to be here.
Joy Burnford: It's so lovely. And as a good friend of mine, it's just a delight to have you on the podcast chatting to me today. And as you know, this is a bonus episode for my podcast, we've just hit 25 episodes since we started the podcast. And we're doing a bonus episode with you today, which is all about your work with the Hunger Project. And the topic for today is unleashing your potential by giving back which is such an important topic. And for our listeners who don't know, I'm actually an Unleashed Woman as well, which we'll talk a little bit about more about what that means. But I'm a supporter of The Hunger Project, and I'm very passionate about it, and the work that the project are doing. So without further ado, lovely to have you Manda and perhaps we could start a little bit about you and your background. Just give us a little bit of a in a nutshell.
Manda Lakhani: Thank you so much for having me on Joy. I'm really grateful and really appreciate your partnership and support the Hunger Project. I started my life, I've had a chequered career, started off as a scientist, worked at Harwell, ended up in the city having done an MBA in finance and worked for a couple of different asset management companies, headed up marketing for Nomura, and then also started my own financial service advisory business for a while before having children. But during that time, I worked with many different charities so I've had an interesting career.
Joy Burnford: And you got to advise me as well when I set up my business.
Manda Lakhani: That was a real pleasure because, again, I really believed in your cause and mission. And yeah, you've done brilliantly. So congratulations on everything you've achieved. But I think I got involved with the Hunger Project, six, seven years ago as an investor, I found out about it through a very dear friend called Cathy Burke, who was a global ambassador for The Hunger Project, amazing woman, worked tirelessly for them for over 20, 25 years, and totally resonated with me as a charity with the work they do. And within a year or two of becoming an investor, I was asked to join the board of trustees, so got pretty quickly involved with them.
Joy Burnford: Brilliant. So what I'd like to talk about today is how giving back can positively impact your career. As I said, I've always been a great believer in giving back and and sort of being passionate about making a bigger social impact. And I'd love it if we could just talk a little bit about, you know, the benefits of giving back for individuals and how it can have a positive impact personally to individuals.
Manda Lakhani: So I think, it's interesting, I've worked with a number of charities, including Action For Happiness. Again, I was a very strong advocate, I am a strong advocate for the work they do. And one of the areas that they've proven their statistics, there's research done on what makes people happier, and one of the areas is giving. And, you know, whether that's giving financially, whether it's giving off your time, whether it's giving, just a listening ear, there's lots of different ways of giving. And every single person has the opportunity to give of themselves, even just from a place of compassion, and empathy. And in that space, especially if you're in the present moment. And I have a spiritual part to me which I go to an ashram in Rishikesh, I have a guru there. I've been very fortunate to be doing that for over 20 years. And there's an amazing feeling you get from doing seva, which we call, which is service, we call it seva. And that's giving back to the community and the people that are in your family and wider community. And there's an amazing, uplifting, warm feeling you get in your heart when you do that. And I'm sure everyone listening can resonate with the fact that even just helping someone cross the road or opening a door and seeing someone's smile when you're in a queue, because you're just generous to them. It can be quite transformative. You know, you get the right hormones flowing in your body. And it just, the whole thing can change your mood as well.
Joy Burnford: Absolutely. And I think just added to that, actually, I was just thinking, as you're talking, I was just thinking about, we live in such a materialistic society. And we all you know, we're spending money on so many things every day, things and stuff and, you know, and actually, does it really give us happiness to receive, you know, to by those things, it probably gives you a quick sort of fix of happiness. But actually, afterwards, do you really have that sense of happiness, that you're really doing something? You know, we've all got so much stuff. I mean, we're very privileged that we do have so much stuff. I know not everybody does. But we are very privileged to have the things we do have. And I think it's it is such, you're so right, it does give that sense of overwhelming joy that you can help other people who are not as fortunate and privileged.
Manda Lakhani: Yeah, there is, I think there is a definite, deeper, meaningful part of our souls that we all have, which can be really improved, can be, you know, helped by giving in a way that you know, you've done something. And I talk very generally about just a smile or being generous to someone, but actually a deeper level, when it comes to the giving part, and especially the financial and the time giving part, that can have a profound effect on your health and mental wellness and well being. And that is pretty key. So if someone here listening has been in a soup kitchen, for example, or worked to work in a food bank, you know, the fact that you're actually helping someone to feel better about themselves and actually make them physically better or mentally better, can actually make a big impact on your own personal well being.
Joy Burnford: That's really interesting. And I don't think people think about that very often. So what is your advice for people who are listening who think, wow, I'd love to do this, I'd love to give back. But I just don't think I've got the time. I'm too busy juggling everything else in my life, you know, why should giving back their priority for them?
Manda Lakhani: Well, like I say, I mean, it is proven that you can improve your own well being and health by giving back. And I think, for me, it's able to look around you, and actually step out of your own little cocoon, and embrace the whole world outside, we are all totally aware of things like climate change. And we are all in that fear of what's that going to mean whether that's five years, 10 years, something like hunger, poverty, and the issues that go with that have been in the world for many, many generations, and The Hunger Project have a really interesting take on it, we've been going forty years, and the whole take we have is about every single person in the world is equal. We all have this ability to do good, be good, and improve our lives and those around us. But those people that are in areas of the world that have hunger and poverty and other issues have just happened to be born into a region or a family that doesn't have that opportunity, doesn't have that potential. And we believe that if you can help people, through training and education, to step up for themselves, people are the greatest power to end their own hunger. You don't have to be giving out, we're not a relief organisation. So all I would say is, you know, for me, that's what struck me and resonated with my values and aligned with what I feel. And all I would say in answer your question is that there are so many opportunities out there to be of help, to be of service, to assist. And it's just finding those, find someone locally, go down to your local shops and find out if there's anything someone needs locally, go and you know, if you haven't got the time, then please contact us and invest. Even if it's, you know, £10 a month. Yeah. It's incredible how much once we share the stories of the impact we're making, that in itself can be quite uplifting.
Joy Burnford: Yes, absolutely. Now, one of the questions I was going to ask you was you know, any tips on finding the right cause or charity to support and we've touched a little bit on that. And clearly, you're here today in The Hunger Project. You know, I think for me, it was, it was really important for me when I chose to support the Hunger Project that actually being aware of the benefits, and seeing and hearing real stories. Being unleashed women, you know, we get to meet and hear stories on the front line, what's happening, and actually what difference is being made, which is really important to me to see that, you know, your money is going somewhere, that you can see that it is making a difference on the ground. Perhaps you could talk a little bit about the, what you talk about in terms of giving a hand up, rather than a handout. And we've talked about not being a relief organisation. But talk a little bit about that, because that was really important to me.
Manda Lakhani: If I can just quickly summarise, we at The Hunger Project been going for over 40 years, we were launched in 1977. And we are an organisation that has grassroot strategies, many of which are women's centred, or community led development strategies. We're in 13 countries of the world, including Bangladesh, seven states in India, we're in nine African countries, and we're also in South America. That's massive areas of the world, regions of the world. We've so far impacted or had an impact on 16 million people. But for me, the biggest, biggest, transformational you know, gives me goosebumps when I think about it, is when we empower women, we actually, they empower communities, they make change on a much more broader and longer lasting sustainable way within their communities. And there's a great quote, I know, you've heard me say it many times Joy by a Chinese philosopher, called Lao Tzu, who said, If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you could feed him for a lifetime. And many people have heard that quote. And I more recently have added to that my own little phrase, which is if you teach a woman to fish, she will not only feed her family and herself, but she will actually start feeding and helping the whole community to feed themselves for a lifetime. But even more than that, women who are empowered then don't stop there. They don't stop at the feeding and the nutrition, they that look at what's needed in their communities. And we have seen results, like magnificent results across the globe where women have got electricity to their villages, they've got schools built, they've improved their crop yields in Africa, because of the way we've taught them to change their farming methods. We've actually stopped child marriages throughout Asia, South Asia, because they've been so empowered. And so they have a vision for changing their lives. And we as an organisation, are very lean as an organisation, we only have about 380 staff worldwide. The way we've made such a massive impact is we train volunteers. And so far we've trained over 500,000 volunteers across the globe, in our vision commitment, action workshops. And these volunteers, we now have one of the largest volunteer bodies of any charity in the world. And those volunteers are making that impact on the ground at grassroots level, throughout villages, in all the areas we work in.
*** Joy Burnford: I do hope you’re enjoying the conversation so far. I want to take a moment to tell you a little bit more about my reasons for doing this podcast. At My Confidence Matters our mission is to work together to navigate a path to gender equality through building confidence and capability. I’m passionate about enabling every woman to have the confidence to progress in their career, and I love talking to, and sharing women’s stories to inspire others. This podcast forms a small part of what we do, and if you think there’s room for improvement in the way your organisation understands and manages the issues, barriers and obstacles that women face in the workplace, please do get in touch or tell your HR contact about us.
And don’t forget, developing a consistent personal brand can help you build your confidence and achieve your ambitions. So, if something as simple as clothes is standing between you and success, the amazing Gail at Gail Morgan Style is offering you 15% of all colour analysis and other services when you reference this podcast.***
Joy Burnford: Absolutely amazing. And if I mean, I just think it would be great, as we said, it's not just about a donation. And can you talk about some of the different ways people can get involved. I've mentioned Unleashed Women. Perhaps you talk a little bit about what Unleashed Women is. And you know how people can get involved if they want to get involved?
Manda Lakhani: Yeah, absolutely. So basically, obviously, The Hunger Project from the outset have always talked about investing rather than donating. We've not used the word 'give us a donation' because that seems to be a very black and white one off transaction, if you like. And having been from the finance world, that resonated with me too, because we talk about people investing whether it's £5 as one off or whether it's a £200 a month. That investment is used fully, as I've already explained across the globe to make an impact and we have thousands of stories. We've now got 54 epicentres in Africa that are self reliant, and we've got, so within those epicentres, they're all about 10 to 15,000 people in each. So we've now got over 900,000 people in Africa who are actually out of that hunger, poverty, chronic hunger, situation. And not only that, that they actually have access to health care and education and all the other things I mentioned. So in order to help, please do invest in us, go on to our website, www.thehungerproject.org.uk. But the Unleashed Women is really something I'm very passionate about Joy, as you know, I'm really grateful for your support as an unleashed woman, we have tipped the whole leadership model on its head, really, we spend a lot of our time and effort sharing the stories from our village partners. Because that's where we see fundamental change at that grassroots level. And you've seen all the stories that I've shared over COVID times. But people can see those stories and becoming an Unleashed Women means that you become an investor in The Hunger Project. And there's three levels, there's £100 a month, £300 a month, and the ambassador level is £500 a month. But what we're trying to ascertain is not just getting the investment is actually building a community, a network of women who are leaders in whatever sense, they can be stay at home mums, or they could be CEOs of organisations. And we have a very, already have a great mix of women, we've got over 30 women now that have signed up to join us as a network. And we are learning, we're inspiring each other by regular zoom calls, listening to the stories of the women in the field, and seeing what lessons we can learn from them, which is so inspiring, so different from learning in the classroom, learning, you know, sitting in an MBA programme or a leadership workshop programme, because it's what they're doing and how they've really upped their game in a very feisty, you know, fearless courageous way. And we in the UK, we can learn from that we can really inspire and change our own lives daily. And then secondly, as a movement, and as a network of really feisty women here, we're actually learning off each other. So we are actually sharing our own stories, we're sharing what we do. In terms of whether we're in business, or whether we're in corporate, or whether we're entrepreneurs or lawyers, you know, we've got a real mix in the community. And we're finding that there's lots of different levels of getting involved in that. Some people just want to give us the money and say, it's great to be part of the network, but I really don't have enough time. But I really want to feel part of something. And other people like yourself and very grateful, are involved in a much more dynamic way. So really, it's down to the individual how much they want to get involved and what they want to do.
Joy Burnford: Absolutely. I think, you know, we were at an event the other night, and I was meeting some of the unleashed women, for the first time that I've only met via zoom. And it was lovely to connect with these women and sort of share stories and support each other as well, because we're all individuals trying to succeed in life as well. So it's, you know, that's been a really added benefit, really, for me. And I think given that the topic of this podcast is all about confidence as well, I think it's you know, by helping and investing in The Hunger Project, you're ultimately going to be giving women more confidence in their day to day abilities to do things in their communities as well. So I think it's really important, again, sort of something I'm very passionate about. So thank you so much, Manda, for sharing the time. Was there anything else that you wanted to add? I know this weekend, you were very busy, and you've signed up another 10 unleashed women just this weekend, which is fantastic.
Manda Lakhani: We had a fantastic time we were at the one woman conference with Dr. Joanna Martin, who runs a fantastic network community of women called One of Many, and Joanna is a long term investor and trustee on the board of The Hunger Project. And we were there with 400 women, first time in three years, which is fantastic. And yes, we've added 10 new women to our unleashed community. And all I would say is I'd be really grateful to hear from anybody, whether that's directly on LinkedIn at Manda Lakhani or whether they come through you Joy, to talk to anyone who wants to get involved and become an Unleashed Woman, and invest in The Hunger Project but also feel empowered themselves through the teachings of the women in the grassroots villages that we support amazing. So yes, please do contact us.
Joy Burnford: Thank you. We'll put the details in the show notes as well so people can get in touch. So thank you again, Manda, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast, and wishing you all the best with getting more Unleashed Women set up. And if anybody has any questions about what it's like to be an Unleashed Woman as well come to me and the other thing I was just going to mention, which we didn't touch on was, if any organisations are listening, and want to make any corporate investments as well, then that's something that The Hunger Project would be equally delighted to hear from or if you have any events coming up that you would like to use The Hunger Project as an organisation to support that would be wonderful too.
Manda Lakhani: Yeah, thank you so much Joy, we actually do, we've started partnering with UK corporates now. We've been doing it in Australia for many, many years, with the likes of McKinsey and CBA and some of the finance houses. So we're starting to do that in the UK. And we do have leadership programmes, which are really helpful for empowering women leaders. So again, we can do that within the corporate setting. So please do reach out if your organisation would like to learn more about that.
Joy Burnford: Excellent. Thank you so much, Manda and speak again soon.
Manda Lakhani: Really appreciate it, thank you Joy, bye.
Joy Burnford: And that’s it for this week. Thank you very much for listening and I’ll be back again soon with another Confidence Conversation. If you know anyone who might find this podcast useful, please do pass on the link and it would give me a real confidence boost if you could subscribe, rate and leave a written review (on Apple podcasts here or on Podchaser here). If you like what you’ve heard, sign up for updates where I’ll be sharing tips and notes from each episode and you can send in your ideas for future topics.
And remember you can get 15% off all virtual and in-person colour analysis sessions and other services at Gail Morgan Style when you reference this podcast. To book, call 01442 262696 or visit www.gailmorganstyle.com.
Thank you, and until the next time, bye for now.