Member Spotlight Archives

Member Spotlight

Meet the WeWork members growing their businesses and solving issues in their communities around the world

Latest articles

October 5, 2017 October 5, 2017

Simprints proves engineers are creatives, too

When Alexandra Grigore stepped out onto the stage at the London Creator Awards, she couldn’t have been more nervous. Winning was crucial to her nonprofit Simprints, which works to improve healthcare in developing nations. “It was pretty incredible,” says Grigore, the organization’s lead product manager. “When I heard people cheering, all the nervousness went away. […]

By Mark Sullivan

September 27, 2017 September 27, 2017

Outside-the-box innovators feel the love at Berlin Creator Awards

With 60 seconds on the clock and a skateboard in his hand, Skateistan founder Oliver Percovich prepared to deliver his pitch at the Berlin Creator Awards Tuesday night (September 26). On the line was a top prize of $360,000. “People told me my idea was impossible for years,” he said of his nonprofit, which provides […]

By Bridget Riley

EMEA Creator Small Businesses Entrepreneurs

September 26, 2017 September 26, 2017

Try walking 50 miles in the shoes of a person with disabilities

Harry Woodford is a developer, member of London’s WeWork Tower Bridge, and soon-to-be marathoner. But there’s a twist: Woodford is taking on the 50-mile trek from London to Brighton on crutches. He’s calling it the Hop-Athlon, all done in the name of raising awareness for the struggles of people with disabilities. After a car accident […]

By Nikki Pepper

Impact EMEA

September 26, 2017 September 26, 2017

Host your own hackathon for social good

The idea for a nonprofit hackathon originated at a WeWork happy hour. I was brainstorming with a few fellow WeWork members about how to get better exposure for the nonprofits we run using the WeWork community. What we came up with was a new use of “hackathon,” but one for social good. As founder and […]

By Isa Watson

Impact Innovation

September 25, 2017 September 25, 2017

Tiny beetle inspires researchers to solve world’s water crisis

A tiny insect inspired four graduate students at London’s Imperial College to try to solve the global demand for water. “There are animals, such as the fogstand beetle in Africa, that can draw water directly from the atmosphere,” says Jonathan Risley, CEO of ThinAirWater. “We thought: ‘If animals can do it, why can’t humans do […]

By Mark Sullivan

Innovation EMEA Creator

September 25, 2017 September 25, 2017

Chatterbox unlocks the world for refugees through language

Mursal Hedayat was three years old when she, her older sister, and her mother had to flee war-torn Afghanistan in 1994. Her mother, a civil engineer, hoped to continue her work when they arrived in the U.K. But like many refugees, her education and experience weren’t enough. “It was like she left behind her professional […]

By Mark Sullivan

Impact EMEA Creator

September 22, 2017 September 22, 2017

GoSafely takes the fear out of the walk home

Safety isn’t a women’s issue, says GoSafely cofounder and CEO Annmarie Stockinger. After she was assaulted in her freshman year of college, Stockinger began developing a device that calls for help and notifies responders to your location, all without relying on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. When looking at competitors’ products, though, Stockinger noticed that most market […]

By Bridget Riley

Creator Small Businesses Entrepreneurs

September 20, 2017 September 20, 2017

Androdes wants to be your sci-fi dance party hero

Helen Sartory is living a double life. By day she’s a self-proclaimed “tech nerd” immersed in the startup world. By night she’s a—well, it’s a little hard to explain. She transforms herself into an android who uses a glowing crystal equipped with touch sensors and other space-age devices to create electronic dance music. And at […]

By Mark Sullivan

Creator Creativity EMEA