Powered by the kindness of strangers: Meet Beam, helping disadvantaged people via crowdfunding donations

Are you looking to work for a company that has a local, human impact? Maybe one which is also powered by the collective kindness of complete strangers? (We’re not crying, you’re crying!). Then look no further than Beam!

Beam is the world's first online platform that supports homeless people, refugees and prison-leavers to get off the streets and into careers they love, all through crowdfunded donations. 

Beyond restoring our general faith in humanity, Beam is also a pretty ace company to work for. For 3 years running, Beam has been a winner of our Escape 100 list, which spotlights the top 100 organisations to work for each year. Beam had a sky-high employee rating of 9.5/10, jam-packed with comments like “I ABSOLUTELY love working at Beam! The people are wonderful, the role is so fulfilling, and I have so much fun every day!”. What could be better?

“The social enterprise turning people's lives around” - The Big Issue

So how does Beam work? Each person is given a kind of case worker, who helps them come up with a plan of what they want to achieve. The website then launches a mini crowdfunding campaign for each person, with their picture, profile, and story of how they became homeless.

Since starting in 2017, they’ve helped over +1260 people, with each person getting around 250+ supporters and 90+ messages of support. Beyond the numbers, it’s completely transformational for the people on the receiving end. Founder Alex says: “It's such a powerful affirmation of the fact that people care about them and that their lives have value. That really boosts their confidence up…people would often break down in tears because it was a complete wake up call that they actually have a future worth living… and that there are loads of people out there who want them to succeed.” 

Once upon a time, a legal consultant didn’t like his job…

Founder Alex Stephany might now be a change-maker, but once upon a time, he was a dissatisfied legal consultant who (in his own excellent words) “felt a bit like a cat and like my fur was being just stroked in the wrong direction, I was just uncomfortable”. How did he go from this, to building a 100-person tech-for-good company? Good question!  

Ingredients for social entrepreneurship

• 100 grams - Real-life experience at a startup
• 100 grams - Real-life experience of a worthy cause
• 50 grams - Pro-activity
• 1 tbsp -  Serendipity
• Slow-cooked in a curious, adaptive attitude

Alex didn’t cook up Beam with a fully-formed recipe at first. His journey went from feeling dissatisfied, to having a series of experiences that led him to the idea of Beam. From a work placement helping disadvantaged people get free legal advice, to joining Escape the City’s startup school, to learning how to grow a startup as Just Park’s COO, all these learnings gave him the knowledge and skills to use later on. 

It was only when Alex struck up a friendship with a local homeless person, that all his previous experiences blended together into one idea. After helping this man with items like coffee and socks, only to see him struggle immensely after suffering a heart attack, Alex began to think about how crowdfunding could be the answer to providing larger solutions. He self-educated himself on homelessness in London, and was introduced to Toni Elie, a homeless man who wanted to become an electrician. Toni became the first person Alex helped through crowdfunding - and the rest is history!

Caption: Toni Elie, the first homeless person helped through Beam, to get his electrician qualification (photo by Andy Parsons)

We were delighted to welcome Alex onto our podcast The Escape Artists — listen to the full episode here.

Want to work for Beam?

Beam is a winner of our Escape 100 campaign, which spotlights the top 100 organisations to work for every year, out of +13,000 nominations. Organisations are assessed during a 3-month application process, and measured against 145 data points across 6 categories (Impact, Planet, Mission, People, Innovation, B-Corp), including anonymous employee reviews (Beam scored 9.5/10, by the way!). 

Right now Beam has +10 jobs available, in roles ranging from Operations to Technology. They are growing to help refugees and prison leavers, as well as work together with government, charities and other stakeholders. If none of these jobs float your boat, don’t forget to set up an Organisation Alert for the next jobs coming up at Beam.

Alternatively, check out the other Escape 100 winners, and see if any of these inspiring purposeful organisations could be your next career move!