Mission

What we need   To build our community, we need to create our own membership list of our social network, which in turn can build a database to develop and grow. We require “the network effect” and therefore we need to produce good content; which hooks people in and they in turn engage and produce content for our site, so as to create a snowball effect from there.   We are also organising events in partnership with our sister company Born This Way Events and so would need to promote these too.   While we build our network, we are happy to have our own closed facebook group, so that those who need to have more confidence in our brand before committing have a platform and place to engage.   Twitter has been brilliant for us so far, as it gives us the ability to engage in the discussions and news happening across the community and we would like to continue to increase the momentum of our engagement.   We would train any potential social media guru in the Trans terminology, tone, the players and the people to avoid in the trans community and the wider LGBT+ market place.   We also write blogs, produce podcasts and video content, which we would like to be promoted across social media.   The Person   Someone who has an interest in the transgender and /or wider LGBT+ community and who is happy to exchange their time, skills and experience to help a start up social enterprise. Someone who appreciates that there can be rewards in giving us a chance, with a significant return of a skills exchange, having a not for profit on the CV and potential to become a director and shareholder of the business in the future.   We are looking for someone as excited as we are to create something new that helps people and makes a difference, someone who sees benefit as more than just numbers in the bank account but that social change can happen from an idea, some people and great execution.

Category

Food

Additional Information

Intro   Happy To Be CIC is a social enterprise start up, whose aims are to improve the mental health of those who question their gender identity, otherwise known as transgender and empower them to make positive change in their lives.   Our CEO and founder, Rebecca Manning is a Registered Mental Health Nurse with lived and professional experience of the gender transition process and those who question their gender identity.   Happy To Be came out of Rebecca’s dissertation for her Mental Health Nursing Degree that asked whether a care coordinator would reduce the suicide rate of this community.   The Problem   Suicidality in this client group can be as much as 50%, due to stigma, isolation, a lack of services, support and understanding. This has a detrimental impact on mental health and socio-economic status of this client group.   Current Trans websites are forum based, peer lead with subjective information and a tendency for discussion to descend into chaos. Sexualisation and exploitation are a common place.     The Solution   We are building an online community of professionals who are trained, competent and interested in supporting the trans community. These professionals can be matched with individuals for face-to-face work.   We have created a membership site called beeyoox.com (Be You) where we will have news, content, information, objective opinion, professionals offering services for the trans community and relevant products. Think of beeyoox.com as being a mix of linkedin, facebook, amazon and tripadvisor.   Membership is free for a limited time but we will eventually charge an annual subscription, which forms part of our business model for sustainability.   We are also developing an app where professionals can have live conversations with individuals and we are assembling a team of professionals with different specialities. From counsellors, to nurses, to beauty experts and everything in between, professionals who can help empower and support during the gender journey.