Written by Allison Bajt
It comes as no surprise that at ABSI Connect, we are always looking for the opportunity to learn about and highlight the amazing people championing social innovation right here in Alberta. With that in mind, I jumped at the chance to chat with Lana Cuthbertson and Kasey Machin of Areto Labs, two incredible women who are paving the way for safe and inclusive discourse in digital communities. If you haven’t heard of Areto Labs, read on for an inspiring discussion of Lana and Kasey’s fight for gender equality and some hard-earned advice for anyone with bold ideas considering a move into social enterprise.
Areto Labs
At first glance, Lana and Kasey’s mission is simple: to create more positive and inclusive digital communities. Utilizing machine learning and AI technology, Areto Lab’s flagship product ParityBOT detects toxic tweets sent to women in politics during campaigns, then posts a positive tweet, or ‘positivitweet,’ each time a negative one passes its threshold. Although ParityBOT is relatively specific in its application, it is a mechanism that has wide-ranging implications for combating negative language directed towards, well, anyone, and as a result, Kasey and Lana’s vision for Areto Labs is anything but small. Their so-called “HR technology” has the potential to significantly improve and protect online communities from all issues of social justice – think racism, cultural or gender discrimination, sexism, and so on. Their newest service ‘Coach,’ for example, allows businesses to build an inclusive, culture-building framework right into their internal communications and maximize employees’ productivity. And that’s really just the beginning.
While Areto Labs’s mission is clear, Kasey and Lana’s path to social entrepreneurship wasn’t nearly so straight-forward. Both women come from diverse backgrounds in journalism, the non-profit sector, policy advising and communications, and had a multitude of professional and personal experiences to draw on when they made the leap to social enterprise.
Lana Cuthbertson
Lana had two parallel careers running simultaneously: one that included her full-time paid work in journalism, communications and marketing, and another that had her volunteering and fighting for gender equality in politics. “The two streams were pretty separate until we came up with the idea for ParityBOT; I was at a conference for work and found a paper that outlined the use of technology in the context of women in politics. I was like – you can do this!!?” says Lana. She notes that even then, she had no grand plan and never thought she would venture into entrepreneurship, especially as the CEO of a cutting-edge tech company.
Kasey Machin
While Lana navigated two complementary career streams, Kasey was personally experiencing the abuse and hatred targeted at politicians in her role as a policy advisor to an elected official. “It became a real problem and stressor in my life,” she explains. “I couldn’t sleep at night because of it and for the first time feared for my own and my boss’ safety.” Having been involved in politics all her life, Kasey was highly aware of the lack of women in government and knew that many simply didn’t want to run for office because of the amount of online abuse that they received. Women are, in fact, disproportionately harassed in online spaces because of their gender and there is a clear gender disparity in politics because women face systemic barriers in political systems around the world.
This led Kasey and Lana to create ParityYEG, a non-profit organization based out of Edmonton that champions women and recruits and trains them to run for elections. The next natural step was figuring out a way to take their passion for gender equality and ParityBOT from the non-profit to the for-profit space, come up with a name, incorporate, and build out their business model. It was a combination of their incredibly diverse skill sets, personal experience and drive for gender equality that led them to sit down over coffee and found Areto Labs, challenging the notion that starting a business need be anything other than the coming together of two like-minded people with an unrelenting passion for social change.
A Prototype for Social Enterprise
At its heart, Areto Labs is the ideal example of a social business; the more successful it becomes, the greater its reach and social impact. Think: less negative speech directed towards marginalized people in online spaces, and more collaboration, community and inclusivity. It can be difficult to assess what “success” truly means for a social enterprise, however. According to traditional business metrics we might consider profit, but for a business like Areto Labs, profit goes hand-in-hand with getting ParityBOT into more digital communities and achieving its mission by measurably improving the discourse in online platforms.
Lana and Kasey’s hope is that a year from now, their technology can make taking part in digital communities easier, safer and more welcoming for even a single marginalized group, if not more. According to Lana, as a relatively new startup, it is extremely important that they keep a long-term focus on their goals and continue to celebrate big milestones, such as their work in the most recent New Zealand election (read more here) and the 2019 Alberta provincial and 2019 Canadian federal elections. Their work has already shown that hate speech is both prevalent and difficult to combat on social media platforms as they currently exist, which impacts democratic health and gender equality in our communities.
Lessons Learned
The road to social entrepreneurship is not always easy, and Kasey and Lana have had more than their fair share of challenges, push-back and rejections. One major issue they noted was the unavoidable position of social enterprise in a capitalist economy, with both women referring to their feelings of frustration that people simply don’t invest in social causes in the same way that they support profit-driven ventures. Lana reports that a lot of the work they have done over the past few months has been very aligned to the startup playbook, but the reality is that “we are participating in a capitalist system, where people need to be convinced of the dollar value of an idea.”
In this sense, social enterprise sits at the intersection of traditional business (extractive, profit-driven, and highly focused on shareholder value and economic gain) and the not-for-profit sector (supportive, issue-driven and collaborative). From Kasey’s perspective, there is still much room for improvement in terms of shifting people’s beliefs about the value of social change: “we’ve come so far as a society and culture, but there are I am still working to convince people that investing in social infrastructure is as important as investing millions of dollars into a new condo development. Investing in social innovation pays off in so many other ways.”
Advice for the Brave
Despite this resistance from investors or, perhaps, even society at large, social enterprise holds the unique advantage of bringing unique solutions to everyday problems and making meaningful change through financial success. Kasey and Lana are the first to admit that they would love to have more founders come together to connect over the unique trials and tribulations that social enterprise faces. They offered to share some words of wisdom and a few pieces of advice for anyone who is considering taking their own socially innovative ideas to market.
Rely on others and take help where you can.
Apply for all the grants, all the time, and do it early. Then reach out to others who support your cause and take advantage of their help. You will find people who are passionate about the same issues you are, and they may even volunteer their time and energy, knowing that you may not be able to offer paid work. That kind of support is so vital in the early stages.
Push for gender-equality everywhere.
Put men in positions that have been traditionally held by women (HR, family portfolios, or women’s initiatives) and vice versa. So many of us understand personally how important it is to have diverse genders holding a wide variety of professional roles, but that still hasn’t been filtered through all corporate settings or governance structures. Be the model for change!
Don’t downplay your skills and abilities.
It is okay if you do not necessarily fit the mold of what a typical entrepreneur looks like. Imposter syndrome is real in this industry, but the skills and experiences you bring from your previous professional life are invaluable, and they so often become a strength because you have a different perspective on so many vital business decisions (e.g., organizational hierarchy, hiring practices, and operations or strategy). It is passion that drives really good business, not a background in tech or an MBA. The startup scene is designed for people from the social sector in so many ways because you make do with what you have, get scrappy, and act before you necessarily feel ready. There’s so much of that entrepreneurial spirit there already, we just don’t call it that!
Define what success looks like for you.
You’re going to get discouraged, so count your success in years and not days. You will learn so much from the hard moments and “failures;” remind yourself that what you are doing is making an impact, that you’re on the brink of something amazing, and that you may have to wait for everyone to catch up to you. With a combination of passion, street smarts and believing in what you’re doing, you can do anything you want.
Final Thoughts
If you are not already feeling inspired, Kasey and Lana left me with some final thoughts that are worth sharing – especially at a time in all of our lives when we probably need an extra dose of sound advice and inspiration.
In their eyes, there is a huge ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs in Alberta and Canada, but it’s not always geared for social enterprise. Because of this, they urge everyone to start reaching out and boosting each other up so that social entrepreneurs know that they are not facing the challenges of early-stage growth alone. This means more networking, more mentorship, and more shared resources. It also means volunteering your time (if you can), listening to others, and surrounding yourself with like-minded people who care about issues bigger than themselves. Every single one of us has the ability to address systemic issues and contribute to positive change in our local, national and international communities, and we can achieve more together.
Interested in learning more about Areto Labs and supporting their cause? Visit their website at www.aretolabs.com or follow them on Instagram @aretolabs.
Do you know an inspiring story about an entrepreneur who is changing lives, systems or spaces in Alberta? We want to hear about it! Email it to us here.