Marie Gabrielle is a gardener, but not in the way you think!
Marie Gabrielle’s vocation is to cultivate talents, to give them light and self-confidence. Before becoming a coach, consultant and trainer, she saw many talented individuals in organisations wasting away due and becoming frustrated in their jobs due to a lack of expression. She experienced this herself working for a number of years in a large corporation and noticed these patterns amongst many of her friends and colleagues. She also noticed that CSR policies of many organizations failed to spark powerful momentum and bring about actual progress or impact in order to meet the strategic sustainable development these organisations were working towards.
That’s why she decided to create L.I.G.H.T (Leadership, Intrapreneurship, Growth, Humanism & Transformation), a sustainable talent development program aimed at growing ‘intrapreneurs’ within organizations. What is an intrapreneur? It’s a resourceful person with good ideas who is able to lead a concrete project from A to Z within the organizations that employs them. As she’s a good gardener, Marie Gabrielle knows how to grow the talents she in charge of; with her friend and colleague Karen, they facilitate a 9-month program in organisations blending training workshops, coaching and support for participant who are conducting a project with social or environmental impact outside of their usual work scope. The concept of intrapreneurship is motivational for the participant and ensures that everyone benefits by producing shared value for the company! When her work is done, Marie Gabrielle leaves her talents in full bloom, happier in their work than before and with real sustainable value added to the organisation.
Marie-Gabrielle’s activity fits perfectly with the Hub values! She believes that everybody can act and have an impact towards the changes needed in our society. The L.I.G.H.T program offers each participant the opportunity to taste what it means to be an entrepreneur working towards social impact. The Hub is a work space where great ideas become action. She believes in the value of co-working; participants can lead projects as a group and she plans to soon offer a Hub module within the program: where participants receive a Hub membership to enjoy the benefits of co-working in our community and access to social innovation related knowledge through the Hub entrepreneurs and thinkers.
The Hub gives Marie Gabrielle access to many resourceful people who have contributed directly and indirectly to progress in her business; a chat with a member can turn into an informal business coaching from someone with more experience or a gifted Hub intern can support with graphic material design. This is supported by the Hub currency; allowing her to exchange goods and services without physically exchanging Euros, something which is key during the start-up phase of a business. By integrating a Hub module into L.I.G.H.T program, Marie-Gabrielle is exploring the possibility of a nonzero sum game – expanding the Hub members’ base and enriching the value of her offer at the same time.
Written by Juan Martinez








