A Word with Brad Wickens

Posted 19 October 2022 in EMpower News   |   Share

Recently, EMpower’s President & CEO Cynthia Steele spoke with Brad Wickens, Founding Partner at Broad Reach, an investment firm with a strong focus on emerging markets, and a founding Director of EMpower UK. They spoke about EMpower's evolution, global sustainability, broadening opportunities for women, and more.

Brad, you have the long view because you've been with us for so long. What strikes you about the evolution of EMpower?

You've arrived at and will go further to places that none of us could have imagined. At the beginning, when EMpower was originally envisioned, it was for impact at a grassroots level. The idea was to work with grantee partners that were going to effect change in a small area—for a reasonably significant number of people, but not countrywide. But because of the credibility that you've engendered over the last 10 to 20 years, you've now been invited to have a seat at the table and get to interact with and advise governments not just at the local level, but at the national level, on policy and improvements. And once you have a seat at the table, you can really leverage best practices and lessons learned elsewhere. That just wasn't on anybody's radar, even five years ago—despite the growing footprint, sustainability, and significance of the work EMpower has done.

The organisation doesn't just cover more of the globe or touch more people in more countries—though it does all of that. It's next level and you have the chance to really leverage your credibility and influence government policy at a national level. That is groundbreaking because I always thought of that as somebody else's remit. Despite the excellence that you all have, you didn't really have the critical mass. And to see that you now have that is really encouraging. It's nothing other than what EMpower deserves, and a testament to what you've created.

With a ton of support from you, others, and a fantastic team. When you cofounded EMpower UK—and certainly thereafter for many years—you have put a lot of your professional and personal capital into bringing your colleagues in finance on board. I'm curious to know, what have you found to be the most compelling message to them as to why they ought to join EMpower?

I think it's the first message that we crafted back in 2006 for the UK, which was a reflection of what EMpower stood for; it was a very direct, very accountable, very transparent way of giving back to the community from which we genuinely sought our livelihood. It was a very neat circle, one that was efficient as everyone had an eye on costs. One that was transparent in that we all knew what everyone was doing, and one that had a professional body that allowed accountability that was lacking then, and in many respects, is still lacking today— outside of EMpower. Some charities are not particularly transparent; their reporting is much better than it was, but you still feel a little lost. Whereas EMpower feels very personal, very transparent, and very trusted. These are messages that work today and were the original messages that we crafted; the message is exactly the same. That gives me as much confidence today as I had way back in 2006 when we really conceived of EMpower beyond the US and brought it into being.

You're a generous person towards EMpower as well as beyond. What do you think about in terms of being strategic with your own philanthropy?

As anyone who takes these things moderately seriously, you evolve as the situation evolves and you learn. I've learned and therefore developed my thinking. I still passionately believe in EMpower's causes, especially empowering women and girls: education, leadership, livelihoods, enabling tomorrow's women to have a future other than early childbirth—a future to be hopeful for, a future for their children, and a nuclear family. I talked to you very openly 15 years ago that I did think global sustainability was a big factor. That population and the call on the resources of the planet is a core issue, not just the overconsumption by an individual, but by a plethora of individuals. As I've developed, I've spent an increasing amount of time thinking about the environmental and sustainable side of how we as humans use the planet. I've increased my focus on global sustainability, which has shifted my forward-looking philanthropic efforts a little bit more towards the environment. But at the core of that is education and how important that is.

The provision of security, livelihoods, leadership, and a nuclear family—that possibility for women goes hand-in-hand. Preservation of habitat biodiversity is developing and central to where I think now. And often it just comes from women, because they're better guardians of the planet.

That’s right. There is so much evidence, and a strong ethical foundation for the fact that if you give women the autonomy and the means to make and implement their own decisions, they will have smaller families. We’re all about enabling girls and young women to act on their hopes for their futures.

Thank you, Brad!