Vashti Seth
Vashti Seth is a microfinance campaigner, winner of Bristol and Bath's Women in Business 2016 – Woman of the Year Award, and founder of the UK's first peer-to-peer crowdfunding charity, Deki.
Early life
Seth had an unconventional bohemian upbringing. Her childhood was spent between growing up in Bristol, various communes around the UK and even extended as far as Morocco and Australia.
When Seth was four years old her father (John Richards) and brother moved to Australia, whilst she and her mother remained in Bristol. Seth left St Katherine's School, Bristol in 1993 with only GCSE's and decided to go travelling across Asia before settling in Australia seven years later at the age of 23 and attempt to reconnect with her father.
Career
In mid-2000, Seth started a career in TV production in Australia. Seth lived and worked in Sydney, building up experience as a freelance Production Manager in the film industry; she started with no experience, but after completing a short course interned as a production assistant and runner. By 2003 Seth was a Production Manager and Producer for a number of high-profile commercials, notably for Pepsi and Pizza Hut, as well as for shows such as Home and Away.
In 2005, Seth returned to the UK to work as a film producer, however weeks after returning she was given the news that her father had terminal cancer and only a few months to live. Putting aside their differences and her career on hold, Seth returned to Australia and nursed her father during his final five weeks.
After his funeral, Seth received a bequest of a few thousand pounds and a handwritten note which simply read: "Do something good." Undecided what step to take next, she travelled across India with the aim of visiting a Tibetan refugee whom her father had sponsored for many years, called Deki Dolkha.
Seth's father had been committed to sponsoring Deki Dolkha through school up until the age of 18, believing that this would give her a better start in life. However this gesture of good will didn't have the impact he had hoped: when Seth met Deki she found a young woman living in poverty who had little opportunity to create a better life for herself. Vashti then began learning about the impact of traditional international development and the benefit of microfinance in the developing world. The initial idea for the Deki website began and Vashti returned to England.
In 2006, Vashti began a bachelor's degree in business at the University of West England. While studying she realised she could use her film production connections in the tech industry to turn her idea into a reality.
In 2008, inspired by her travels and interest in microfinance and named after Deki Dolkha, Deki was created as a social enterprise. In 2009 Vashti graduated from University and the first loan via the Deki website was made. The Deki website was awarded official charity status in 2010.
Deki
Deki is a microfinance charity that provides loans and business training directly to entrepreneurs in the developing world. It was one of the first UK charity to raise micro-loan capital through a community of socially driven lenders via peer-to-peer crowdfunding. Individuals in the UK (and overseas) have the opportunity to lend as little as £10 to a chosen entrepreneur in a developing country. 100% of the money loaned goes direct to that person, and is paid back within 12 months – it can then be withdrawn or re-lent again. Even a small initial investment can help a number of people to raise themselves out of poverty. Deki has many notable supporters such as Luol Deng and Nick Park. In October 2016, Deki celebrated making a million pounds of loans across seven countries, impacting over 37,000 lives. Juggling work life with two small children hasn't been easy but in 2014 Vashti was awarded an honorary MBA by The University of West England for her leadership skills and commitment to entrepreneurship. In 2015 Vashti was honoured by the South West Institute of Directors and awarded the Third Sector Director of the Year award. Seth's role as social enterprise ambassador for Bristol has given her the opportunity to be a regular speaker at business events around the UK and seen her become a passionate voice of women entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as a spokesperson for the benefits of microfinance in developing nations.