Meet the Neighbours - Lead Client Impact Director

2 April 2024

For our next instalment of Meet the Neighbours, we’re pleased to introduce Martha Goudie, who has recently moved into the role of Lead Client Impact Director.

With a background in environmental management and sustainability Martha was drawn to the B Corp movement, and having googled local B Corps she found and joined Neighbourly in 2016.

How would you summarise a typical day in your role?

Every day is unique. I speak to clients on the planning and delivery of their ESG strategies, and then work with our internal teams on how to optimise this delivery. I'll share impact data and stories with clients, working closely with our Community Management team to make sure that partner programmes are aligned with the needs of the community. I'll also support other members of the Client Impact team in the incredible work they're doing. No day is the same and I'm lucky to work with clients, team members and community groups that are passionate about creating positive impact.

Can you share some of your personal highlights from your time working for Neighbourly?

There are so many highlights from the last 8 years! To name a few… Standing in the entrance of an M&S Bristol store and signing customers up to volunteer alongside M&S colleagues as part of their first volunteering programme, Spark Something Good.

Going through the B Corp assessment process. Getting out and volunteering with causes like Incredible Edible and The Mulberry Trust. Working with B&Q stores on their Community Reuse pilot scheme and experiencing the infectious enthusiasm of their colleagues to give back. Seeing our client base and good causes network grow over the years.

And most recently, the launch of our Impact Lite proposition to enable businesses of all sizes to use the platform for instant access to volunteering.

"Even if it's a hard day I come away heartened that [the goal of creating healthier local communities and environments] is something shared, that can be tackled together"

How important is it to you that your work makes a difference to the world? How does working at Neighbourly fit in with that?

I need to feel that something has changed and is a little bit better before finishing my working day. Working at Neighbourly gives me the platform to do this each day, being a company that lives positive impact through both the business it does and the way it does it. We share the goal of creating healthier local communities and environments with our clients, their employees and the good causes in the Neighbourly network, which means that even if it's a hard day I come away heartened that this is something shared, that can be tackled together.

The Client Success Team has recently transitioned to become the Client Impact Team, can you tell us more about what this means?

‘Impact' has always been at the heart of the volunteering, donation management and product surplus programmes we run with our clients. Changing the name of our team is about recognising this and the evolution away from 'success' as an outcome that exists in isolation. Success for our clients is intrinsically linked to the positive impact they and their employees have in the community, and the fantastic support they provide is in turn shaped by the needs of the community.

Our client partners use Neighbourly to plan, measure and report on the impact that they are having for their communities and local environments as well as the positive benefits received by employees, including the boost to wellbeing. 'Impact' is a term that better reflects the multiple-stakeholders involved in every campaign and what can be achieved through our partnerships.

"Good business can only be done and sustained on a healthy planet and we can't wait for a catastrophic tipping point"

If you could positively change one thing about the world of business, and spread it across the globe, what would it be?

It’s quite a big one - I'd reset the short termism of some thinking and strategies founded only in profit-making at the expense of other people and the planet. Good business can only be done and sustained on a healthy planet and we can't wait for a catastrophic tipping point before making a change.

Is there a Neighbourly good cause whose work you’re particularly inspired by?

Bristol Baby Bank Network - having and caring for children is increasingly a financial decision for lots of people and it's very sad that it has to be this way. Baby clothes and items are grown out of so quickly and are great for reuse. Bristol Baby Bank Network supports families who might be vulnerable, refugees or struggling financially by redistributing pre-loved items to where they are needed most, relieving the pressure for families when the costs of other essentials like food and energy are so high. This has a massive positive environmental impact too.

Enjoyed this? Meet more of the neighbours here:

Enjoyed this blog? Stay up to date with Neighbourly news and insights by signing up to our newsletter below.