More power to Community

 

We are ChangeX

A grassroots movement progressing the world forward by making proven innovations and grant finance accessible to everyone, everywhere.

We believe that...

  • great ideas should be shared with the world
  • more people can and should be changemakers
  • change accelerates when funders and communities collaborate
  • grassroots action has the power to change the world

ChangeX exists to empower communities everywhere.

We’re partnering with changemakers, social innovators and funders to advance and accelerate their impact on the world's most pressing social and environmental challenges with the goal of impacting one billion people by 2030.

 

Our impact

  • 25,871
    Community projects activated
  • 192
    Proven ideas ready to be replicated
  • 160
    Funds activated

Over 1 million people impacted

Our team

We're a remote-first organisation, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with teams across Europe, the U.S., Latin America, and Africa.
Meet our global team.

  • Paul O'Hara Co-Founder/CEO

    While investing in social entrepreneurs across Europe at Ashoka, Paul grew frustrated at how slowly proven ideas were spreading. He realized technology held the key to scaling what works and founded ChangeX in 2015. A business graduate, Paul previously marketed chocolate and ice-cream at Unilever and Cadbury. He loves to spend his weekends starting ChangeX ideas with his family, as part of his neighborhood group.

  • Niamh McKenna Co-Founder/Head of Impact

    Niamh works with our social innovators to spread their ideas, with our corporate partners to grow their impact, and on measuring the impact of our work in local communities. Previously, Niamh worked with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and as a consultant with PwC having studied law at NUI Galway and International Management at TCD. Outside work, you'll find Niamh at a gig, practising yoga or sea swimming.

  • Katie Smith Head of Operations

    Katie runs the day to day operations of the ChangeX machine, as well as supporting starters get the platform ideas up and running in their community. Previously Katie worked with the Mary Robinson Foundation on securing justice for people impacted by climate change. She holds a Masters in Sustainable Development. Outside work, you’ll find Katie shouting either on a hockey pitch or at a climate change rally.

  • Leah Caudell-Feagan Senior Community and Partnerships Manager

    Based in San Francisco, Leah plays a key role in our expansion across the US and Latin America. She works on partnership management and supporting our community of changemakers. Leah joined us from Niantic, the developers of Pokémon GO, having seen the value of ChangeX as a customer. Outside work, you'll find Leah hiking and camping with her dog and partner in the wilderness of California.

  • Claire McGovern Product Lead

    Claire works with the Product Team to innovate and scale the ChangeX platform to improve communities globally. Previously, she worked at Devex, the media platform for international development, in research at the UN University Institute, and in public relations. Claire studied international relations, multimedia, and loves online courses for building new skills. Outside work you’ll find her in the sea and enjoying Barcelona life.

  • Osny Netto Software Engineer

    Osny is a multidisciplinary, detail-oriented front end/UI engineer. He loves working with innovative and purposeful companies to create clean and user‑friendly experiences, focusing on business impact and growth. Previously, Osny worked for many start-ups (mainly SaaS) around the world, which helped him to develop a broad skill set. When Osny is not working, he enjoys sports in general.

  • Susie Monyo Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications

    Susie is the Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications. She has 9+ years experience in B2B marketing, specializing in content strategy, product marketing and PR and social media. Most recently, she led the strategic marketing efforts for a global tech company after it completed two major acquisitions. When she’s not working, you’ll find Susie singing and playing guitar, watching tennis or wrangling a preschooler.

  • Rachel Millar Social Innovation Manager

    Rachel looks after all things social innovation: sourcing ideas from across the globe, packaging these ideas for scale, and curating portfolios for local implementation. She also oversees our implementation into Africa. Her background includes project management/strategy. Outside of work, you'll find Rachel swimming in the sea, at an art class or rallying people around her own local community projects.

  • Killian Alexandre Community Success Manager

    Killian is based in Brazil and works as a Community Success Manager, making sure all starters and social innovators have a positive experience with ChangeX. Killian has been working in tech for over 10 years now. When he's not at work, Killian can be found trying to maintain his pollinator garden at home (which is constantly under attack from his 4 dogs and 3 cats!)

  • Board of directors

    • Sorcha McKenna Partner, McKinsey

      Sorcha is a Partner at McKinsey and leader of the McKinsey Dublin office. She joined in 2003 and her work focuses on organizational change in health care. Sorcha led work on an approach to improve access to primary care in the UK that led to significant improvements in patient access and satisfaction and underpins the national approach to addressing GP access. In addition to publishing and presenting on these topics, Sorcha also convenes a global group of leading practitioners to share perspectives on successes and the future of integrated care. Before joining McKinsey, Sorcha obtained a degree in microbiology and a PhD in molecular microbiology from Trinity College Dublin.

    • Caroline Casey Founder, Valuable

      Caroline Casey is an award-winning social entrepreneur, Ashoka Fellow and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. A former strategy consultant with Accenture, Caroline is founder of Binc, a business inclusion company which launched #valuable – a worldwide ‘call to action’ for businesses to recognise the value and potential of the 1 billion people living with a disability and position disability equally on the global business agenda. Casey also founded the Ability Awards, to recognize Irish businesses for their inclusion of people with disabilities, and Kanchi, where she developed a set of best practices for businesses, to help them see "disabled" workers as an asset.

    • Brian Caulfield Venture Partner, Molten Ventures

      Brian Caulfield is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He was a Managing Partner at Draper Esprit for 7 years, and continues as a Venture Partner with the firm. Prior to joining Draper Esprit, Brian was a partner at Trinity Venture Capital. Previously, Brian co-founded both Exceptis Technologies and Similarity Systems. He sits on the boards of Clavis Technology and the Irish Times, Ireland’s leading daily newspaper. He is a private investor/advisor to a number of early stage technology companies and is VC-in-residence at co-working hub Talent Garden.

    • Faye Drouillard Founder, WakeUp Capital

      Faye is passionate for social change through entrepreneurship and applying business practice to socially driven organizations. She spent over five years as Executive Director of the education-based Freedom Writers Foundation, where she spearheaded the organization’s growth through major film and book releases. Previous to this she worked as a corporate paralegal focused on Fortune 500 corporate mergers and acquisitions and litigation for Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Faye co-founded The Giving Circle in Amsterdam and Dublin to educate and inspire a new generation of philanthropists and support innovative social purpose organizations.

    • Jill Vialet Founder, Playworks

      Jill launched Playworks in 1996 in California. Currently the organization brings play and physical activities to children across the United States, serving over 800,000 students a year through direct and training services, reaching more than 1800 schools and youth-serving organizations. Prior to Playworks, Vialet founded the Museum of Children’s Art (mocha) in Oakland, California and expanded its programs to reach 20,000 young people each year. In 2009, Vialet and Playworks were selected as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and in 2011 Jill was named by Forbes magazine as one of the top 30 leading social entrepreneurs.



    Our funders/advisors include:

    • Albert Wenger Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
    • Mike Lee Co-Founder, MyFitnessPal
    • John O’Farrell General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
    • Vic Parker Managing Director, Spectrum Equity
    • Jerry Greenfield Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry’s
    • Xochi Birch Co-Founder, The Battery
    • Niall O’Hara Data Scientist, Stripe
    • Brendan Dunford Founder, Burren Beo Trust
    • Jeff Lieberman Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners

    Philanthropic funders

    Mike Lee · Brian Caulfield · Albert Wenger · Vic Parker · Jeff Lieberman · Garry Moroney · Cavendish Capital Limited · Colm Lyon · Ray Nolan · John O'Farrell · Jerry Greenfield · Val and Ed Spencer · Soran Foundation · Conor Stanley · Shay Garvey · Mark Little · Yallingup Enterprises · Lochlann Quinn · Denis Tinsley · Minneapolis Foundation · Bill McKiernan · Knight Foundation · Ian McDonald · LEGO Foundation · Patrick Kennedy · Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

    Our partners include:

    • Microsoft
    • AWS
    • Accenture
    • LEGO
    • PwC

    Our service providers include:

    • Morrison & Foerster
    • A&L Goodbody
    • Andersen Tax
    • McKinsey
    • 150Bond
    • Mazars

    ChangeX International is a registered charity. Company registration number: 555232 | Registered charity number: 20153618 | Charitable tax exemption number: 21264.
    ChangeX United States is a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation. EIN: 83-4060943.

    Audited accounts: 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

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