#79: Building a B Corp, leading with ADHD, and living to give
A Q&A with prolific social impact founder Alicia Teagle
Hello!
Today’s Q&A guest sits firmly in the Pass It On venn: part tech, part non-profit; with whole heart and soul.
Meet Alicia Teagle.
Alicia is on a mission to build the most diverse tech network in the world and help folks with purpose win. She’s the co-founder of Socially Responsible Recruitment (SR2), the B Corp-certified recruitment company on a mission to make tech recruitment more people centric. She’s also the founder of Technology Volunteers—a dual-sided platform connecting folks in tech with charities, schools, and community groups who need help with technology projects. In between founding these companies, Alicia has helped mission-led startups like Carescribe and Tumelo scale responsibly and contributed extensively to codebar, a non-profit community working to create a more diverse and inclusive tech industry.
The tech industry likes to use the word ‘serial’ when describing lifelong entrepreneurs—the ones who can repeatedly turn ideas into successful organisations. I prefer the word ‘prolific’ because it’s more generous. To create prolifically is to create abundantly, meaning your efforts result in more than enough for everyone. I can’t think of a more accurate way to describe Alicia’s career journey.
When I look at your career journey, I see a prolific founder on a mission to do good. Where does your drive come from? What are your top operating principles for building successful, sustainable organisations?
Thank you 😊 The drive comes from my family 100%. My Nan and Grandad were/are big philanthropists; my dad taught me to help others wherever I could. They raised me to give it back, pay it forward, and appreciate the life I have. This foundation set the stage for me to recognise my many privileges and want to take action towards making the world a fairer place.
My top operating principles aren't revolutionary. But I believe that choosing to live by all of them consistently can lead to revolutionary impact.
1. Rally around clear values
We set ours on day one of founding SR2 and live and breathe them to this day. Work Hard, Be Accountable, and Be a Good Human. They're bold and clear and act as a clarifying, unifying force.
2. Embrace innovation
We give our team the space to think outside the box, problem-solve courageously, and dare to push the boundaries.
3. Obsess over employee engagement and well-being
Flexible benefits + a diverse culture that caters to everyone are the baseline. Without our team, we are nothing.
4. Put social and environmental responsibility at the core
You can't be called Socially Responsible Recruitment and not have CSR baked into the day-to-day! As a B Corp-certified org, we have an externally validated sustainable supply chain and are incredibly proud of the commitments that come with it.
B Corp is an incredible social impact movement, and getting certified is no easy feat! What was the hardest thing about the process? Did you learn anything surprising along the way?
The short answer is that the certification process is tough but worth it. You can't take any shortcuts. It took us 18 months from start to finish—nearly a year longer than we expected.
💡What is B Corp?
B Corp measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact. To become a certified B Corp, the organisation must:
“Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards.
Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.
Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.“
Still, we were fortunate. We were a young business with a socially responsible business model, so there weren’t too many things to “fix”. But the assessment highlighted environmental impact as a key improvement area, and we’ve been working on that since certifying in 2021.
All organisations have something to learn from embarking on the B Impact Assessment. The Assessment is the first step towards becoming B Corp certified, and it's a fantastic tool for making your decision-making processes more ethical, even if you don't go all the way. You can always come back and complete the certification at a later date.
Massive props to our CEO, Chris, and ESG & People Manager, Caitlin, who led our certification from start to finish. We're re-certifying this year and are looking forward to seeing our (hopefully) improved score. Wish us luck! 🤞
💡Check out Lauren’s interview with B Corp Nordics Executive Director Nille Skalts for more on the B Corp movement
You describe yourself as a proud ADHD'er. How has being neurodiverse shaped your leadership journey?
I was diagnosed with Dyslexia at 12 and ADHD at 32, so while the latter came later than it should have, I feel like I have had enough time to process and accept that my mind works differently from many others.
In many ways, ADHD and entrepreneurship are a great match. Being an entrepreneur requires taking bold bets and thinking creatively—two behaviours well-suited to an ADHD brain. I'm never short of ideas and can problem-solve in unexpected ways.
On the flip side, entrepreneurship is also about leadership, and leadership requires structure, focus, and persistence. So, managing the impulsivity that comes with ADHD is key. (I have a new business idea literally every week!)
Overall, I love and am proud of my brain. We wouldn't have achieved what we have today without it.
How do you manage the impulsiveness?
Here’s what’s working well for me at the moment:
Grace Beverly's productivity planner. Both the book and the online Notion version. It's a game-changer; I cannot live without it.
I've asked my team to say no to me. I am constantly thinking of new ideas on a weekly, if not daily, basis, and it's ultimately unsustainable for me and my team. So I give them explicit permission to push back.
Pursuing creative activities outside of work. Especially ones that provide an outlet for my creativity while calming my mind. I love calligraphy and am about to try paint by numbers.
Creating pauses. As an emotionally reactive person, I've recently learned through coaching that I need to step away from situations that would trigger an emotional response—the kinds of situations that I usually end up regretting and tormenting myself over afterwards. Instead, I now leave my desk, maybe step outside, and wait an hour or overnight before responding.
Remembering to breathe. It's such an underrated tool, and it's free!! Box breathing is my favourite. It can help with almost anything. Try it 🧡
What's an unusual opinion or uncommon belief you hold?
You don't need a college or university degree to be a great engineer in tech. You can come from a non-tech background and be just as good, if not sometimes better, than folks who spend thousands on higher education.
How can the tech and non-profit sectors come closer together?
Bring them together in a safe and collaborative environment and let people talk. Everyone will be surprised at the synergies and unexpected learnings! I'd encourage Pass It On readers to spearhead this process by getting involved with initiatives like Technology Volunteers—the platform we created for tech employees and organisations to help close the digital skills gap in the not-for-profit and charitable sectors.
Which three books or other media have impacted you most and why?
Unmasked by Ellie Middleton is the ultimate guide to ADHD, autism, and neurodivergence. It's insightful for neurodiverse and neurotypical folks alike, with plenty of actionable tips for employers to create a more inclusive work environment. I wish everyone in the world would read this book.
Never Split the Difference by former FBI negotiator Chris Voss is, predictably, an excellent book about negotiation.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is top of mind as I just devoured it ahead of watching the series. I loved the writing and the message. Here's to hoping the series is as good!
More questions for Alicia? Email her at alicia@sr2rec.com or hello@technologyvolunteers.org
Thanks so much for reading!
Lauren