Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwyneth Lloyd.
Gwyneth, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was a for profit consultant with my own global Executive Search company when my daughter continued with her annual campaign to save the world and specifically to help garbage community children in India. We met a fabulous local contact who had just completed a small school in New Delhi for underserved rag picker children. This was meant to be! We traveled to India, spent a month having the most extraordinary experiences serving both the children and families. Ultimately, I came back to Dallas, sold my company and went back to school at SMU to study Non-Profit Leadership. They have a terrific Certification program. During my time at SMU I met the CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, Colleen Walker – we connected immediately. I joined that organization and helped serve in their Program area for 5 years. These moments show how much it “takes a village” to create a story. From my beautiful daughter’s greatest desire to help children in India, to the Founder of the School we worked at and then meeting the GS CEO – each person contributed significantly to the journey I have been able to enjoy.
WorldVentures Foundation started in 2010 and we met in late 2012. I fell in love with their mission to serve underserved children globally. Who couldn’t love this! It has been a glorious almost 5 years. We started with a couple of US programs and some smaller international. To date we have served children and their communities in 18 Countries doing volunteer vacations (VolunTours), built 38 Dream Courts with Nancy Lieberman Charities in the United States, completed 110 Eco Bottle Schools in Guatemala and raised over $4,000,000 to contribute to our various programs globally.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Finding the right partners to complete our work together in the destination countries.
Whether we’re going on a full-on VolunTour to a Country or working with our own WorldVentures Foundation local Community – ensuring the work we do is authentic is critical to us. Sometimes we have been misled or the organization proposing working with us is not official.
Our work in the Asia market needed local leadership and that search to identify the right leader to connect with our stakeholders in the region and also be engaged in Plano, TX was certainly challenging – it took a year and we have the most talented individual leading that region.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
1. We are a volunteer leadership organization serving children globally through volunteer vacations (VolunTours) and local volunteer days (where a local put together a day of volunteering).
2.We are known for our volunteers serving children and communities in ways that other organizations do not.
3. We’re most proud of having built over 110 Eco Bottle Schools in Guatemala.
4. What sets us apart is our focus and authenticity. We don’t have checks we distribute – we go, work, volunteer, fundraise and deliver!
5. Most importantly – it takes an extraordinary commitment by the Foundation team globally to deliver amazing volunteer opportunities to our Community of stakeholders so they can serve children. The Foundation team is hardworking, generous and professional – the best!
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in the UK. I was always “bossy”, focused and driven. Hopeless at exams. Absolutely fabulous at projects!
My interests were varied. I loved all school projects (even though I can’t sing a note, I joined the choir), drama, art, fashion.
I always imagined I would travel and the new addition was “serve”. I guess Executive Search is a form of serving.
Today I love Opera, Travel (especially VolunTours – a word in the Oxford Dictionary), Iyengar Yoga, Serving Children & their Communities, Mentoring talented women – and that most important classic “my family!”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wvfoundation.org
- Email: glloyd@wvfoundation.org
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