Gaynor Rigby on how Equilibrium is setting off Ripples of Hope with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation

Equilibrium was honoured to recently announce its support for Ripples of Hope, the inaugural business and investment summit hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK.

Equilibrium was honoured to recently announce its support for Ripples of Hope, the inaugural business and investment summit hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK.

The all-day conference will see business leaders from Manchester and beyond come together to hear from a high-profile selection of speakers – including Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the first female Prime Minister of Denmark; the daughter of Robert F Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy; and business owner and activist Gina Miller.

Ripples of Hope presents an opportunity for leadership development, and for cross-sector decision makers from the business, finance and technology communities to explore how they and their organisations can be champion for a more human world.

Here, our managing partner Gaynor Rigby talks about our involvement with the event and what it means for the Equilibrium team.

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We knew from the get-go that Ripples of Hope was exactly the kind of event we wanted to be involved with. There’s a clear alignment between Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ mission statement and ours, and we were struck by their philosophy of ‘better business’. When the opportunity arose to be an official sponsor of the movement, we jumped at the chance.

We’ve worked hard to cultivate a similar ethos to RFK Human Rights’; of looking after people and putting culture and happiness first. Our biggest asset is our team and staff, and we are constantly asking ourselves how we can honour them and show them respect.

Being a part of Ripples of Hope will allow us to hear first-hand from global business leaders about how we can support our team, whilst also remaining commercial and profitable.

It will also be a chance for some of the key members of our leadership team to network and glean some inspiration from the incredible line-up of speakers. To give them the chance to learn from people like Gina Miller and Helle Thorning-Schmidt is incredible, and we have no doubt that they will use the things they’re taught on the day to make Equilibrium an even kinder, more human place to work.

We’re looking forward to sharing our story and seeing which other businesses out there are doing equally great things – it’s an exciting prospect. We’ll be able to knowledge share and bounce ideas off one another, and help one another grow.

The event is actually very timely for Equilibrium, as we’ve just set ourselves a new giving goal. We’re pledging to donate £4m to charities and worthy causes by 2028, after having recently assessed our turnover and profit levels and identified how we could make a tangible difference to people’s lives.

We talk about it so much, and we feel it’s so important to go forth and actually set the example – start the ‘ripple effect’, so to speak. Being kind and supportive to our team means that they will then be kind and supportive to our clients. That can then ripple out further to families, friends, and even strangers, so we want to be responsible for our part in the ripple right in the beginning.