Z Zurich Foundation: Profit AND Purpose: How to Leverage Business to 2x Impact
Join Giselle Gonzales, Founder & CEO of EqualReach, and Gary Shaughnessy, Chair of the Z Zurich Foundation, for a high-energy conversation on how business can do more than just make money—it can transform lives. Discover how EqualReach is bridging economic and digital inclusion for a global network of highly skilled refugee talent, delivering top-tier digital work while driving social impact. Leading organisations around the world are doubling their impact through thoughtful procurement, proving that impact sourcing is not just possible—it is profitable, scalable, and reshaping the way business drives real-world change.
Speakers
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Giselle GonzalesFounder and CEO of EqualReachGiselle Gonzales
Speaker
Founder and CEO of EqualReach
EqualReachGiselle Gonzales is the Founder and CEO of EqualReach, an award-winning social enterprise connecting vetted teams of displaced tech talent with dignified digital work. Having worked for some of the most well-known companies in the world—including Amazon.com, AWS, the Walt Disney Company, and National Geographic—Giselle leverages technology, storytelling, and impact sourcing to empower displaced communities and form bridges between the public and private sector. Starting as a freelancer herself back in 2015, Giselle has been working with displaced communities for the last 10+ years, spending the last six researching and advising on the rise of digital work among refugees. She built Amazon’s first team-based impact sourcing solution to send digital work to refugee talent and her experience overcoming the most common hurdles that both businesses and refugees face, led her to start EqualReach to address these challenges arm-in-arm with industry leaders.
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Gary Shaughnessy CBEChair, Z Zurich FoundationGary Shaughnessy CBE
Counsellor
Chair, Z Zurich Foundation
Z ZurichGary worked in the Insurance and Investment sectors throughout his professional career, most recently as a member of the Group Executive Committee at Zurich Insurance Group, as CEO for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region as well as having global responsibility for Bank partnerships. Having been a Trustee of the Zurich Community Trust in the U.K., Gary took on the role of Chair of the Z Zurich Foundation, a global corporate foundation funded by various members of the Zurich Insurance Group. He has overseen the increasingly positive impact made by the Z Zurich Foundation team and Zurich people to the vulnerable in our societies worldwide. Gary was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015. Gary became a Trustee of Parkinson’s UK in 2018, was appointed as Chair in 2019. He took on a further role, as Chair of England Athletics in 2021. In support of his community involvement and as part of his approach to managing his Parkinson’s, Gary has taken on numerous challenges including wingwalking, abseiling, kayaking, cycling across Europe, and swimming from Nevis to St. Kitts. He has now completed over 50 marathons including 10 in 10 days recently. In 2022, he became only the 47th person to complete the challenging “Arch to Arc” triathlon. He is also now a double Guinness world record holder: having recently broken the records for the furthest distance run 3 legged over 24 hours and 12 hours with a friend, Andy Tucker. Together they completed over 117.1km. They also broke back the 12 hour record. These sporting challenges have helped raise over £1/2 million for Parkinson's awareness, research and support together with funding for numerous local, national and international charities since 2015, with a focus on mental wellbeing, social equity and crisis support. In 2023, Gary was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to business and to charity from His Majesty the King.