Our Vision
ZÉLIE is an independent organisation dedicated to women of impact worldwide, starting with Europe. It puts the questions of aspiring women of impact to the women who have built businesses and led change.
Why ZÉLIE
We usually measure businesses, impact work and books in numbers: revenue, growth, reach, sales. But every one of them is made by people, and shaped by the people around them. ZÉLIE is interested in what sits alongside the numbers: the histories, relationships and choices that shaped the work.
The next generation of women of impact rarely hear how such decisions get made, or the context that led the women who made them to where they are. Formal education seldom offers these examples, so their stories go unshared. ZÉLIE makes these women easier to find, and puts aspiring women’s questions to them directly.
What we do
ZÉLIE sits down with women innovators, women in social impact, authors, entrepreneurs and business owners, both aspiring and experienced. The conversations follow questions from aspiring women of impact.
Each woman is asked about her day, her first customers or funders, what she learned and from whom, who she looked up to, where she spends money and where she holds back, and what she would tell the next woman. She can skip any question, and “pass” is a full answer. She can leave out any part of the conversation before it is published.
A title like entrepreneur or author is only the cover. We also ask what was around her: the programme, the teacher, the family, the person who appeared at the right moment. That makes her path something others can follow, not something out of reach.
Across 100 conversations, aspiring and experienced women learn from each other. Together they build more than individual profiles: a body of knowledge that any woman can draw on, and the start of an online & in-person community, and co-created events.
Adela
Adela founded ZÉLIE out of an interest in how people and impact are co-created. She began by sitting down with women who build, lead and invest, and asking what they would tell the next generation.
Get in touch
If you run a business or lead something and would like to be part of ZÉLIE, take part. For everything else, please write to adela@zeliewomen.com.