Spotlight Interview: Davina Goodall-Smith
We’re delighted to introduce Davina Goodall-Smith as a founding member of our Stewardship & Advisory Board at Time to Give Network .
Our Stewardship and Advisory Board provides independent expert oversight, ensuring best-of-breed governance, engagement with stakeholders, and strategic advice.
Davina is an experienced COO, Board Director, ESG Board Committee Chair, and Lay Trustee, with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, so clearly someone whose thoughts and options are much in demand!
Ironically Davina spent many years not having time to reply to speculative approaches – including those from our Founder Andrew Kaufmann during his time in sales and outreach.
“The message Andrew sent about Time to Give Network (TGN) was the only response he ever got” she laughs!
Why that though?
“Unless the mail hits an immediate need that is on someone’s radar it is easily lost in the huge amount of email and LI traffic you receive on a daily basis. There’s just not the time unless there is an immediate and obvious hook” she said.
Davina says that the appeal of the TGN lies in its positivity and impact.
“I immediately felt a real affinity with what Andrew and his team are doing. Instinctively it was something I wanted to be part of, and was willing to make time for. I am very happy to volunteer as both a member of the Stewardship & Advisory Board, and as a TimeGiver. It feels like a really meaningful way to give back”.
She adds that the shared charitable donation also acts as a great icebreaker and a positive foundation for a meeting.
“It’s a great initiative in itself but also as it proves that there is positive intent behind the approach. It signals serious intention and authenticity, and starts the meeting with a shared interest” she says.
TGN is a new digital community converting human capital to charitable donations, Its TimeGivers offer up their time in exchange for a donation to the charity of their choice.
This is an altruistic venture just trying to do good and raise as much money for charity as possible, while also facilitating valuable connections.
Davina talks about what the TGN brings to TimeGivers. “For TimeGivers the benefit is the opportunity to discuss things that might be on our radar, or that we had not previously given much thought to. It gives much needed space for discussion on things outside of the direct remit”
“It's a far warmer way of doing things and takes the opportunistic cold calling out of things”
She also likes the fact that the TGN is growing initially just in the UK asset management industry. “It’s great to start such an initiative with a core target group. The UK Asset Management industry, and the eco-system that exists around it is a close-knit community, and because of that I am sure that it will soon gain traction and reach critical mass,” she says.
Indeed, with a community of over 100 participants already, gaining critical mass and expanding out to other areas is our hope too!
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