Q&A with Ellina, gooava's Founder
Where did the idea for gooava come from?
I started 2020 with a stable salary, falling expenses, and increasing levels of concern over the issues affecting people locally and abroad. Sounds familiar?
I was looking for ways to help, and the main question I faced was: How do I choose the organizations that both need my support the most, and I can trust to be effective in driving positive social change with that support?
A whole lot of Zoom conversations showed that I was in good company. I created gooava to help socially-conscious professionals find and support small & specialized values-driven organizations.
We are now building a focused online community to let you get to know (and trust!) the people behind the orgs we curate especially for gooava.
Why are small organizations important to you?
One source of long-standing inspiration to me is the Founder of BCA, where I first volunteered as a teenage maths tutor. Abdullahi left an impression on me with his unwavering commitment to and deep understanding of the people he works to uplift.
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Separately, I can give countless examples of small business owners around the cities I’ve had the fortune to live in and travel to, who go the extra 100 miles to make sure their community is taken care of.
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Simply put, this mix of dedication, authenticity, and care - to me - makes our world a better place.
What's your background?
I've held Strategy roles across Technology & Telecommunications at Vodafone Group, Financial Services at Oliver Wyman, and Retail at Kantar Vermeer.
On the academic side, I have an M.S. in Management Science & Engineering from Columbia University and a BSc in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London. Yes - I'm a bit nerdy...
I've lived in various cities across the U.K.🇬🇧, Spain 🇪🇸, Dominican Republic 🇩🇴, the U.S. 🇺🇸, and Russia 🇷🇺. My family is now scattered across three continents.
If you ask me where I'm really from, I'll point you to Taiye Selasi's TED talk - I believe that our world is too intricate and exciting for "nationality boxes" 😊.